Synopsis: In anticipation of a joint mission of Starfleet and Cardassian scientists on Deep Space Nine a Bajoran Vedek comes to the station and tells Commander Sisko to call off the project because it will fulfill an apocalyptic prophecy.
As in past episodes, this one can be seen as an illustration as to how important it can be to listen to one’s instincts, or as James Hillman would say, one’s inner daimon. This is the teaching of Hillman’s acorn theory, the idea that just as an acorn has everything within it to become a tree, we all have an inner daimon that knows our destiny in life, and it is importance to listen to it. However, there is an added twist here, that in determining what that destiny is can have more than one interpretation.
In “Destiny” the defrocked Vedek Yarka comes aboard Deep Space Nine to implore Commander Benjamin Sisko, whom he considers the Bajoran Emissary, to stop the mission to position a relay on the other side of the wormhole so that communications will be established between Deep Space Nine and the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko has always been uncomfortable with the role of Emissary that the Bajoran people have thrust upon him, believing himself to be a Starfleet officer. Odo points out to Sisko that this could be coloring whether or not to heed the prophecy. Odo states that it has been his experience that humanoids have an agenda behind their actions, yet Sisko denies he has one.
Sisko is unaware that his identification as a Starfleet officer is in itself a statement of an agenda. This mirrors how we are unaware that by following what our conscious ego tells us to do, we are identifying our persona as the ego perceives it, yet there is more to all of us. At the same time, this is often balanced with the power of being in touch with one’s inner daimon. Ideally, these are the same, but not always. When they are, we are led to our own inner truth of what will make us feel more whole and put us in service to the anima mundi. This is one of Hillman’s key concepts from archetypal psychology.
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