Something new is coming to light decisively and powerfully. It will transform the entire situation. However, this new beginning has a price: we must disengage and let go of what is outdated, obsolete, an old pattern – even if it is hard to abandon something that was trusted and familiar for such a long time now. Eventually this image helps: a tree discarding old foliage, getting ready for a new cycle of life, with the old foliage serving as a fertilizer for new growth. We also need this fertilizer which is generated by disengagement: for our own forward bursting growth, which soon will interweave with the world, resonating with it in giving and taking.
Is something wrong here? And if so: what is it? A dynamic development ends unexpectedly with a reality check – why? Momentum is basically positive. It turns unpleasant if the autopilot takes control. Autopilot occurs when a situation’s dynamic no longer comes from our own interior, but is determined by external (eventually cultural) imprint. A reality check is quite beneficial: Do I really enjoy what is currently happening? Does it make sense? Does it corresponds to my very heart – or is it a copy of someone else’s life? The answers to these questions will lead to a decision. And probably you must let go of something: maybe the autopilot, which was in control until now?
Is it good for me – or is harmful? How can I find out? The easiest method is probably: to try it out. But before marching off we should carefully examine the whole situation. Nothing is ever so new to us that we have no prior experience at all. What do we already know? What is the situation’s background? Well-being? Stomach ache?
A user asks what exactly is meant by “lesson learned” in contemporary interpretation. His personal life situation: paradisaical abundance, tempting offers – and he immediately would like to accept everything. His question to the I Ching is: “What should I do?”
A user describes her situation as follows: “I am very interested in a man, who is – unfortunately – quite prominent. However, I would like to meet him.”
A user asks the I Ching: “What can I do to calm down and stay focused?” Her financial situation scares her, makes her freeze up and prevents her from doing things and getting things done. She would like to better prepare and communicate her offers so that her products are noticed and bought by as many people as possible. Secretly she knows that she has treasures just waiting to be shared with the world.
An other user asks: “Should I take up painting art professionally to earn a living?“ And about his situation: “I am trying to find my way professionally after a long period of unemployment, following a high stress, executive position from which I was terminated without cause. My mother was a professional artist, who died right after I lost my job. I grew up working with her and am very knowledgeable about art, own her equipment and materials, and used to do art when I was much younger.“
One user asked the I Ching where he was in his life and career and what he need to do next/focus on. Recently he quit his job and drastically changed careers, starting his own business and adjusting to a very different life.
A user has conversations with her partner in which she clearly discloses her emotional needs. She asks the I Ching whether the other person even understands what she is concerned about and whether these conversations are more likely to strengthen or end the relationship. The the I Ching’s answer for her is hexagram45 – gathering together, which then develops into hexagram 47 – oppression. Apparently a decision has to be made. And she gradually asks herself where her own emotional needs are coming from at heart. She also realizes what relationship means to her, namely together, complementary, emotionally involved – but by no means oppression. The partners’ respective basic needs should match, otherwise the relationship should be left alone.
Several users describe situations and questions regarding Hexagram46 – Pushing Upward:
One user describes his situation as follows: “In my family, it is all about success and competition. And I always was the loser, the problem. On the occasion of his new beginning and moving into his own, new apartment, he asks the following question: “Under what star will I be living in this apartment?”
A user writes: “About a year ago I met a man, who, like me, lives in a relationship. We understood each other extremely well and decided to be Platonic friends. But we both fell in love with each other. We were so naive.. My mind tells me: give him up! But it is hard to let somebody go you like so much. It all starts to hurt me.”
One user feels almost like pregnant with lots of different information which want to be put together into a meaningful whole. Her question to the I Ching: “How can this happen?”
Another user asks: “There is a lot of bullying at my place of work, even nice colleagues are affected. What should I do?”
A user asks the following question: “How can I act towards and with my art, get into a relationship with it?“ Again and again he found himself in conflict with his self and his art. How should he present himself and his art to the outside world without being identified exclusively through it or identifying himself with it too much? During the past years this dichotomy became so bad that he literally suffered from fear and panic attacks: of the expectations of others – and of his own expectations. He could make art only under immense inner pressure and in the meantime gained the insight that right at the very center of his creativity lies his worst (old) injury. All this stands in his way and hinders practicing his art freely and easily.
One user asks, “Is my boyfriend cheating on me?”
One user describes her situation as follows: “I am currently being harshly bullied out of work and in return I am trying to slowly detach myself, I have sent out job applications and hope to be accepted.”
A user asks the I Ching about his entrepreneurial orientation and several times (!) he receives hexagram48 – the Well as an answer. More precisely his question refers to the criteria by which he should make future professional and business decisions. Should he concentrate on more conventional criteria (security, pay) or rather on his personal beliefs (ethics, philosophy) and interests (development, innovation)?
One user asks: “Will I have a relationship with my first lover?”
A user asks: “Why is it always me who listens and who gives – without ever being listened to, without getting anything myself?”
One user asks: “Will my partner find his way back to me after the separation and can I be a positive part of his future project? Because so far my strengths have not been recognized and I don’t feel integrated. Do I need to take more initiative or let go?”
A user asks the I Ching the following question: “How should I deal with my lack of jobs – and the corresponding low income? Is there maybe something good about the situation?” The I Ching’s answer is hexagram55 – abundance. A wonderful response to a question which relates to scarcity…
A user writes: “Two weeks ago I decided to separate from my wife after 13 years of marriage. My question for the I Ching is, ‘What situation am I in?’”
A user asks: “My only son is leaving the house. I am currently not working. How should I deal with the future emptiness?”
A user asks how his professional situation will develop for him.
A user wants to buy and renovate an old building in Sicily. However, everything is delayed while she lives in her mobile home and waits, waits, waits. She writes: “Basically, it looks as if 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?'”
One user asks: “Is he just a friend to me or more of a future partner?”
Some Reflections
Light at the end of the tunnel
The last inquiry regarding hexagram 55 – abundance, the oil mill in Italy, was sent in recently. And at about the same time, on a walk, I came across an image that I find somehow fitting: Light at the end of the tunnel. What I like about this image is that the tunnel itself is pretty. But exactly that is what you lose sight of when you only focus on the end of the tunnel, that single point, the problem. Yet the surroundings are full of beauty. And probably also full of alternative solutions. Perhaps this is what is meant by abundance (in the hexagrams name): All the possible solutions that actually exist – but for which one is blind as long as one’s focus is exclusively on the problem.
How does the heart gain such clarity and pioneering influence? Only through an entity that is able to discern between important and unimportant, to sort out what is essential and to put only the purest [substance] at the heart’s disposal. 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…
During our conversation I consequently I ask the user questions like: What exactly is the problem that led you to consult the I Ching? To what extent is your perception of scarcity actually true? Is your job situation really that bad? And what is your general financial outlook? My inquiries bring up that she has a few small jobs, but not too many. Secretly, however, she sees this situation almost as a blessing, because currently she is intensively and with great joy engaged in a non-profit project – which certainly would not be possible if she had more “real” work. Financially, she has enough savings to make ends meet, although she would prefer not to touch her reserves and keep them for some ominous future (an attitude she was brought up with but gradually starts to feel doubtful about). Clarity Bears Growth shows us here how an honest inventory may open up entirely new perspectives for dealing with a given situation. Originally the user was saddened because she did not receive what she believed to be wanting: more jobs. What she was given were not jobs but enough time for her non-profit work – without any real financial worries. Admittedly, in our meritocracy it is an unusual attitude to use our own work force for charitable goals while living off savings. It’s definitely a new and unusual way, which certainly feels 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 to not conform to others and not behave like everybody. In some situations it is advisable to make own decisions and to take new directions. Step 2 (second core character) is Dui, the lake, a sign which refers to our connection with the environment and to our attentiveness towards the echoes of our actions. At this stage of development we are confronted with questions like: What exactly is reflected back to me through my environment (what is it really – not: what do I assume / am afraid of to get as a feedback!). 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 little criticism but is appreciated and supported. Maybe that’s a good attitude for her to assume in the near future: to move forward with particular care and attention on this new path and to question again and again how she really feels – and what exactly it reflected to her through the environment. We all are threads in the collective fabric of life: when one thread changes, it also affects the surrounding tissue. Quite often these changes are very subtle – but they can be perceived if we look really carefully at your environment. In hexagram 55 – abundance the initial clarity finally becomes Zhen, clear determination: that which has slowly and perhaps even secretly grown will finally push outside, will become visible to all through determined action.
I received the following inquiry regarding hexagram56 – the Wanderer:
The user’s question is: “What I can do to enjoy my life?” She describes her overall situation as follows: “I cannot bear disharmony with other people, it paralyzes my life force and makes me feel deeply depresses. At the same time I feel guilty and responsible for the situation. Therefore, after discord, I’m always the one who takes the first step, a pattern I follow since my childhood. I would really love to develop something like self love.”
One user writes: “I am self-employed as a parent coach. However, the business is not going well yet. My question to the I Ching: ‘Am I on the right track? Should I rethink my target group?'”
A user writes: “I can’t go on, the situation is draining me, but fighting against it makes me even more tired and exhausted”. His question to the I Ching: “Is the attitude I agree, the answer?” The I Ching’s answer is 57 – the gentle.
A user asks, “How should I deal with the impulses, how do I center, what are my real intentions?”
A user asks, “Should I make a clear cut and work for a foundation?” Currently he is employed by an exploitative and inhumanly profit-oriented company, which he can hardly stand any more. Actually, his decision is made, now he hopes that everything will work out.
One user writes: “I had an intense secret love affair with lots of stop-and-go for a year and a half, but then my partner ended it unexpectedly. And now, after a long and bitter time, he has contacted me with a message that should actually make me feel confident. Nevertheless, I’m in doubt as to whether I should respond. He has refused to answer me for a long time and I would really like to ask him a few questions. I like the image that the I Ching gave me as an answer: the gentle. I would like to be with a person who treats me gently and considerately. I miss that.”
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale again… Only interconnected with my environment I am viable. I can not exist fully isolated, I depend on exchange. Breathing. Acting.
The exam period is beginning. A user wants the best possible grades for her final exam. However, she feels she has not yet fully mastered the material. Should she postpone the exams? Her question to the I Ching: “Should I do the exams now?”
A user asks the following question: “Does he call me because he still has the same feelings as I do? Does he just call out of kindness? Does he call me because he misses me as much as I do? Does he still have feelings for me?” The I Ching’s answer is 62 – Preponderance of the Small.
The user’s newly moved-in neighbor repeatedly operates a device that disturbs the peace, triggers violent vibrations and sounds as if a moped was riding up and down in front of and under the apartment all the time. Neither the property management nor the police take the complaints seriously, but the user does not want to move either. His question to the I Ching: “What happens now with this situation?”
