Case Study
A user asks the I Ching the following question: “How should I deal with my lack of paid work – and the resulting low income? Is there any good in this situation?” The I Ching’s answer is hexagram 55 – abundance. A wonderful answer to a question about scarcity…
Hexagram 55 – abundance begins of with Li, the fire, representing clear discrimination. In acupuncture the functional circuit of the small intestine is associated with this function and it is described as follows:
How does the heart gain such clarity and pioneering influence? Only through an entity that is able to discern between the important and the unimportant, sorting out what is essential and to making only the purest [substance] available to the heart. This function of the organism is attributed to the small intestine…
The small intestine, alchemist of the interior… Discernment is needed on all levels! Sorting out intellectually, differentiating facts, clarifying relationships and… feelings – all this falls under the responsibilities of the small intestine… This is why mental health is associated with the small intestine as well…
With this description of the energies that Li, the fire, represents, I ask the user various questions in our conversation, e.g:
- What exactly is the problem that has prompted your question?
- How does your perception of the current scarcity match reality? Are there possibly other ways of looking at the situation?
- Is scarcity a permanent or a temporary phenomenon for you?
- What is your general financial situation, do you have other resources to support yourself?
My inquiries reveal that she has a few small jobs, but not too many. Secretly, however, she considers this situation almost as a blessing, as she is currently deeply and joyfully involved in a community service project – which would certainly not be possible if she had more “real” work. Financially, she has enough savings to get by, although she would prefer not to touch her reserves and keep them for some ominous future, an attitude she was raised with but but is beginning to doubt.
In this case, the clear insight that Li represents shows how an honest assessment can open up a whole new perspective on how to deal with a situation. At first, the user was sad because she wasn’t getting what she thought she wanted: paid work. However, what she actually got was enough time to volunteer without having to worry about finances.
Understanding the individual situation as something of our own, something we have chosen and not something we have suffered, transforms us, and this is exactly what the first core character, Sun, the wind / tree, indicates. Once we begin to affirm our situation, we can powerfully set out and go our own way toward our self-imposed goal – even against possible resistance.
And this resistance is real. Because, admittedly, in our meritocracy it is an unusual attitude to use our workforce for charitable purposes while living off your savings. It’s certainly a new and unusual way, of doing things, and it’s certainly provocative to some people. The judgment of hexagram 55 says: “Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday.” This phrase seems to indicate that sometimes it is appropriate not to conform to others and not to act like everyone else. In some situations it is advisable to make your own decisions and to go in new directions.
The second core character is Dui, the lake, a trigram that refers to our connection to the environment and to our attentiveness to the echoes of our actions. And in this sense Dui asks: What exactly does the environment reflect to me – what does it really reflect (and not: what do I believe/fear)? The user’s clear answer is: Yes, she has less money available, but she feels very happy and fulfilled in her daily life. And contrary to her expectations she actually receives very little criticism, but rather appreciation and support.
Maybe that’s a good attitude for her to have in the near future: to move forward on this new path with extra care and attention, and to keep asking herself how she is really feeling – and what exactly is being reflected back to her by the environment.
We are all threads in the collective fabric of life: when one thread changes, it also affects the surrounding tissues. Often these changes are very subtle – but they can be noticed if we look closely at your surroundings.
Dui finally becomes Zhen, the thunder, representing clear determination: what has been growing slowly and perhaps even secretly grown will finally burst forth, will become visible to all through determined action.
Another Case Study
Another user received hexagramm 55 – abundance as the I Ching’s answer to her question. She wants to buy and renovate an old building in Sicily. However, everything is delayed while she lives in her caravan and waits, waits, waits. She writes: “Basically, it looks like what we have planned won’t work anyway. Hence the question to the I Ching: ‘What can you tell me about the problems with the purchase?'”
When I received this request, almost at the same time I was out for a walk and came across an image that I find somehow fitting: Light at the end of the tunnel.
What I like about this image is the beauty of the tunnel. But that’s exactly what you lose sight of if you only look at the end of the tunnel, at that one point, at what you’ve imagined to be the solution to the problem. Yet the path itself is full of beauty. And probably full of alternatives as well.
This is probably what abundance, the name of the hexagram, is referring to:: All the possible solutions that actually exist – but to which you are blind as long as you focus is only on the problem.
Further Questions on Hexagram 55
- A user writes: “Two weeks ago I decided to separate from my wife after 13 years of marriage. My question to the I Ching is, ‘What situation am I in?’”
- A user asks: “My only son is leaving home. I am not working at the moment. How should I deal with the future void?”
- A user asks how his job situation will develop for him.
- A user asks: “Is he just a friend to me or more of a future partner?”
The current interpretation can be found here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/787788.htm
