Full On Wow

D, came by for tea and I Ching. She cast #3, Difficulty, moving into #8, Accord. There is only one small movement in the first line, moving from yang to yin, which, though small or seemingly hidden, is significant.

           

The little personal shifts we make on any given day-to-day are like setting something into a spiral motion: as we travel further away from that shift, or decision, the eventual breadth and perspective we gain is significant. So too might every decision be, if we be granted our thoughts the attention they ask for.

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The top trigram is consistent in both hexagrams: water, each line comprised of young or new energy, is constant and unchanging here. Water, synonymous with mastering pitfalls, or danger, and contains a hidden - yet definite - invitation to use every ounce of wisdom one has. Water, in I Ching, is an invitation to uncover its compliment, Fire, or, Illumination.

D & I meditated on the images and qualities here of Water, Thunder, and Earth, finding that the internal (lower trigram) shift from Thunder into the receptivity of Earth was a very significant energistic shift - affecting the quality of the mastering pitfalls in the above, the outside upper trigram.

That the water stays consistent in both hexagrams holds this invitation toward wisdom at the forefront for any keen observer. Water (mastering pitfalls) is a constant element at all moments in the I Ching, and here indeed we see an immediate example of that, and the coin toss in this particular instance invites the solution of Accord.

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The line in the fifth position of any given hexagram is significant, and generally is seen as a boon if it is yang energy. Here, with Accord, being surrounded by yin, the ready caution is of passivity, though certainly after a time of Difficulty, rest is necessary. Yet the double invitation here is to absorb one's learning. That is, to not loose sight of the recent difficulty, but to mine it for its true, directional value.

The quality of accord is of receptivity inside the 'danger' of water. Danger here can also depict mystery, like any still body of water, what lies beneath the surface generates much emotion.

Amid that feeling, if one injects into the absolute centre of it this idea of receptivity, the magic of Accord comes into view.

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The Earth element is key. Our Earth receives everything we give: bulldozers, toxic spills, shovels, projectiles, trash, urine, rain, lightning... the Earth simply gives way. It is the ultimate embodiment of the Receptive principle. Coupled this to the water element in Accord, and the illumination carried within a prior time of difficulty rises to the surface..

The fifth position is like 'upper management.' Or your most trusted advisor: close to the leadership, holding much knowledge and influence. That this 'advisor' is surrounded by the Receptive brings forward the image of riding that edge in meditation where you are close to falling asleep(!) yet one has to stay alert just enough to take in the full breadth of information at hand. Amongst the Receptive, the wealth of information it receives is truly limitless. Accord is the method by which one relaxes ever more deeply into the practical value of wonder, allowing the neural-chemical process to unveil, out from the shroud of daily stresses and battles we are habituated to. Its invitation reaches as deep as you are willing to travel. Thus moving from Difficulty to Accord is a time for being the sponge, for soaking up the lessons one has weathered; a true time of gratitude and appreciation for having arrived at this moment.