Synopsis: Captain Sisko finds the Orb of the Emissary and his origin story is revealed to him.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of James 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 has all the information we need to become who we are meant to be.
In “Shadows and Symbols” Captain Benjamin Sisko is about to leave Earth for Tyree, where he believes he will find the Orb of the Emissary. But as Sisko is about to leave with his father, Joseph Sisko, and his son, Jake Sisko, Ensign Ezri Dax appears on his doorstep. Ezri Dax tells Sisko that she is the new host to the Dax symbiont, although she had never expected or prepared to be joined, she just happened to be the only Trill on the vessel that was taking the Dax symbiont back to Trill. She also tells Sisko that she took a leave of absence to find him. She joins the others and the four of them travel to Tyree. On Tyree Sisko finds the Orb of the Emissary and learns that the Prophets arranged for his birth. Sisko then returns to Deep Space Nine to find that Worf has returned victorious from a dangerous mission, the wormhole is operating again, and the Bajoran people have been reunited with the Prophets.
In this episode, both Sisko and Dax become aware of their destiny, who they were really meant to be, which Hillman would see as an example of his acorn theory at work. One additional aspect of the acorn theory is that our inner daimon even choses the parents that we are born to in order to become who we are meant to be. Here, Sisko learns that his biological mother was selected by the Bajoran Prophets and Ezri Dax is having to come to terms with having the eight lifetimes of the Dax symbiont suddenly implanted into her. But this knowledge will allow them to go forth into the universe as who they are fated to be.
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