Hexagram 04 – youthful folly is auspicious, the judgement states: “Youthful folly has success…” But that only is true as long as we follow the path of the DAO, the way of the world – rather than to forcing our way onto the world. Or, as most usual, hand control over to our autopilot: unconscious control mechanisms and automated action patterns that may have had validity long time ago but that may be meaningless here and now.
Weiterlesen: 04 – youthful folly
These days – and just as this last question on the list below reached me – I have been thinking about the process of selfactualization. Our self, what-we-are, is a dynamic process that constantly evolves, progresses, “actualizes”, bringing our goals, our desires and intentions into harmony with the realities of life.
But let us first make it concrete. Here are various questions that reached me regarding 07 – The Army.
Regarding hexagram 16 – Enthusiasm I received a couple of questions concerning quite different issues:
Sometimes, our cool head is the savior: when chaos ensues, when gut feelings go haywire. But perhaps they are not going haywire at all; maybe we just don’t understand what they’re trying to tell us. That’s when the cool head comes to the rescue – guiding the gut, illuminating the darkness, calming the storm.
Weiterlesen: 22 – grace
Hexagram 29 – the Abysmal is composed of the trigram Kan, the water, doubled. In many traditional I Ching commentaries this double water is read almost exclusively as a sign of imminent danger, fear, or collapse. Elsewhere I argue for a broader view, one that also acknowledges Kan‘s positive potential – and, by extension, the creative aspects of our own unconscious, with all its unruly currents. Kan does not refer unilaterally to threatening torrents or perilous depths: it can just as well be understood as a symbol of life-giving depth, hidden resources, intuitive adaptability, and the ability to overcome obstacles through creative fluidity.
Weiterlesen: 29 – the abysmal
Sometimes unexpected twists arise from what initially gave us uneasy feelings. Especially when we examine ambiguous emotional states with a clear head: are these gut feelings actually related to the current situation, to the here-and-now? A cool head may bring liberation. And gut feelings may cause avalanches. In any direction.
I received the following comments regarding hexagram 40 – Deliverance:
Weiterlesen: 40 – deliverance
The current interpretation can be found here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/788788.htm
A user consults the I Ching with the following concern: “How can I get to work independently in my profession?” She adds: “This year I attended a professional training course. Since then I have been playing with the idea of working independently, self-employed, to develop a new mainstay. I was really impressed by the speaker at the professional training. And anyway, for some time now I have felt like trying out some new methods and professional approaches.”
The I Ching responds with hexagram 52 – keeping still.
The Marrying Maiden – what a programmatic title! Although hexagram 54 – The Marrying Maiden probably speaks about beginnings in general(not only of a partnership nature), I have received, I have only received questions that literally fit the title:
The current interpretation can be found here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/778788.htm
A user asks the I Ching about her business constellation which has served her well for a long time. Recently, however, she felt that it was time for a change as she wanted to focus on a different target group in the future. The I Ching answers with hexagram 59 – dispersion. The title, dispersion, confuses her: does it mean that she should liquidate her old business and then to start all over again in a new constellation?
Weiterlesen: 59 – dispersion
