Progression to Joy: Return of the Feminine.

It’s approaching the two year mark since I began offering I Ching readings to people and I continue to marvel at the omnipresent sense of reinvention housed in this ancient avenue of study. I equally marvel at the degree of shared enjoyment which is generated by the study of the I Ching. 

A new friend and colleague, Fi, is the first person to have two readings with me, one week apart. Each time, she cast a hexagram with some subtle change, and overall, a very interesting and highly sequential picture came clear. I found this extremely inspiring for how much the I Ching reveals always and quite simply what-is:

There are two clear progressions taking place here, and one inversion: Yang shrinks in the upper half/trigram, and by the fourth hexagram yang increases within the bottom/lower half. There is a constant progression toward a greater yin presence, while steadily, from below, the constancy eventually births a second line of yang.

Fi, recently completed a major construction project and expressed feeling relieved as of late to ‘invite back in the feminine,’ after having been in such a rough-and-tumble environment working alongside nine men. “42, Increase,” is a picture of this time of action within action: Thunder below, and Wind above. Thunder is a ‘masculine’ action and stays constant on the inside/below for the first three hexagrams before changing into Lake (… Joy) … Wind, above, in the first hexagram, describes a feminine action. Together, Wind & Thunder make for a storm of activity - as indeed building a house must be…

{ photo credit }

Though we did not discuss gender in any overt way during our discussion, there is a significant and steady tipping of the scales in the above sequence of hexagrams. Each trigram has a family position. Here, in the first hexagram, Wind, the Eldest Daughter, is above Thunder, the Eldest Son. Qualitatively these family positions suggest different levels of authority and ability, and the progression here is very interesting when parallel to Fi’s recent accomplishments. 

   

Looking just at the top halves of this series of hexagrams, we have: Wind, the Eldest Daughter, moving into Mountain, the Youngest Son; moving into Earth, the Mother, the receptive in full, and remaining as such into the fourth and final hexagram.

Fi made mention of a sense of relief having got through such a major project, and expressed a sense of gratitude for the feminine flooding back into her day-to-day. And indeed the upper half of a hexagram is indeed how ones thoughts-and-actions are moving out in the world.

In the lower halves of this series of hexagrams a different pattern reinforces this development: Thunder, the Eldest Son stays steady and constant for the first three hexagrams until changing into Lake, the Youngest Daughter, Joy, in the fourth. Biologically, eldest children generally take on responsibilities at the arrival of younger children. So overall, in this progression of hexagrams, this kind of authority, or decisive quality is waning, making way for more youthful energy... The lower halves of a hexagram reflect back more ones thoughts-and-actions within one's sense of self, or ones interior and private world. So the overall picture then is one of Fi needing great strength, or perseverance, to get through to this new time of arising (and intrinsic) joy. 

{ photo credit }

Lake, is indeed synonymous with Joy. Fi, is indeed strong, healthy, fiery, and with great will. This reflects back the image of Thunder being constant (and on the Inside) for so long. Thunder is sudden and decisive. Wind, is forceful and flexible. 

As we look again at the first two hexagrams, the change which takes place is a ‘loss’ of one yang line. Conversely, this is a ‘gain’ of one line of yin. That process repeats into the third hexagram in this series, leaving only one yang line left - her resources worn down, making way for qualitatively different resources to arise. When we look upon Thomas Cleary’s titles for these hexagrams, we move from “Increase,” to “Nourishment,” to “Return,” and then finally into “Overseeing.” If we were to ascribe a narrative to this progression, certainly a return to the mature (and happy) feminine is very present.

◊◊◊

In her second reading (the third & fourth hexagrams pictured above), I spoke on hexagram #23, Stripping Away.

   

As you look upon it, you can see it is ‘flipped’ in comparison to #24, Return. I prefer the word inversion, and the I Ching hosts several different kinds of inversions. Thomas Cleary is an exceptional scholar who illustrates fully how Yin/Yang are in constant motion, and at the ready to invert into their other at any given moment in time. Yin/Yang are dynamic energies, rather than fixed entities. Both Return, and Stripping Away, when side-by-side like this depict a kind of exhaustion, and I’d like to suggest that where in #23 the exhaustion comes along by surprise, Return illustrates a sense of complete acceptance. I'll illustrate this better at the end of the post, from an example within my book. 

Through this particular sequence of four hexagrams the top trigrams inherently depict a kind of ‘stripping away’ … Yang is stripped back until there is only one left: activity and action head toward their natural rest, and the benefits of rest arise. Reflectiveness become present. This, is Return. … The inversion which very much catches my eye though is how the top trigram in the first hexagram inverts into the lower trigram of the fourth(!) Wind… inverts into Lake… That sense of age, responsibility and weariness, becomes spent and is replaced by an invigoration: Wind 'converts' into Lake; Action, inverts into Joy(!)

As I explain to everyone who comes to me for an I Ching reading - I am not a psychologist - so I do not want to know what your question is. I will speak to the movement of the energy of yin/yang at hand, only - as in the above - as I’d rather not be biased inside the reading. Doing so, the Questioner (you) becomes a very present partner to exploring what houses your underlying energies. NONETHELESS, a titbit in conversation always arises which becomes the jewel to shine a light through onto the reading. Clearly, Fi is headed into calm waters, away from the storm - the thunder and wind. She leaves the mountain pass and reclaims the joy of the mother earth around her.

{ photo credit }

◊◊◊

It is clear to me now that after so many years of personal reflection through I Ching, that now I have moved with a good and happy certainty into the level of inter-personal reflection, bringing my study into the lives of others - an important change in and of itself for any endevour. And, no doubt it is my aim for “The Book of Gardens” to contribute to a broader, cultural, contribution…. All steps along the path. 

I'll leave you with a selection, #24 Return - enjoy! And may you find time for a little wonder & relaxation today(!)

{ from: The Book of Gardens }

{ photo credit }

Different Parts of the Being

It was a great pleasure this evening to offer I Ching Guidance to someone ten years my senior. Though in matters such as mindfulness - or to use the words of my new friend, M, soul - age is just a number, and how one puts learning into practice is everything. On that front, the evening was rich with conversation.

Being new to I Ching, M, asked all kinds of questions about the process and about my soon-to-be-available-publicly The Book of Gardens; and it was a true joy to have ready and practical answers. We chatted on the various narratives we are all susceptible to - notably the religious and economic ones - getting swept away to a story, tied to its ending, often having to overlook the means by which we may arrive there... Certainly the narrative of constant-growth economics ties us to an end which never finds fruition... And as I argue in the Book of Gardens, such a narrative has us believing and acting in a way that keeps us feeling very separate and isolated from everything around us - especially each other...

I went through the questioning process of honing in onto a question, which is both the most fun and the most difficult of part working with I Ching: "Different parts of the being," said M, "are asking the question."

And he's quite right.

{ Rossetti: How They Met Themselves watercolour, 1864 }

We all have a question present to us. We all have various things occurring in our lives which present themes. If you are alive you are probably learning. The degree to which you are conscious to your learning may vary from person to person, but in the heart of all your thinking - always - always there resides a question... Part of the process - just as M described - was to ask first, well: "How do we listen?" How do we listen for the question..?

We each have roles to play on behalf of each other, and we each have a sense of duty to ourselves, and balancing these competing sets of needs make for many questions - many voices - inside of our thinking. Taking the opportunity to sift through this, and get to the central theme of ones life is what I Ching is all about, and why it will remain a timeless classic for our species. Using the question - something truly unique to You - brings out your innate concentration, and leads you toward generating your own insight to what is best to your own life. The only 'trick' to the process is to make time for it. Using I Ching Guidance, is one such opportunity that I offer to you, and greatly enjoy sharing.

These two sets of voices then - the outward responsibilities, and the inward - reminded me of the Doppleganger myth. According to German legend, the moment of your death arrives when you face your twin as if in a mirror. It is as if the other version of you - living out his or her days autonomous to yours - wanders equally on this planet, going about stuff, confused yet searching, and then BAM! meets his or her twin...You! The myth then describes the dying process as one hyper-quick flashback through your time seen through the eyes of the others who encountered you moment-to-moment-to-moment... You literally see your life 'flash before you.'

As I mention in The Book of Gardens, such a myth only raises a foreboding second head if one has something to hide.

Which I suppose is where Mindfulness and the I Ching comes in. I Ching makes physical various loci of attention otherwise buried in the day-to-day maelstrom of your thinking. As usual, I was taken aback by the relevance of what the coin-toss brought out:

#17, Following.

Just as one must follow through to find a question, so too does one follow the events and energies which insulate ones thinking from even asking the question. One follows - either consciously or unconsciously - the predominant set of thoughts which 'speak' the loudest. Underneath it all though - when we look - resides always our truest, most deepest wish. This process I call The Practical Value of Wonder.

It's like a vitamin for your neurology, creating space and uncovering the vitality for your best thinking.

Saagara.com

At this time, all of M's coin tosses revealed yin & yang in their 'young' states. That is, the energies in each line are just establishing: the time is new, and none of the energy is moving away from their given state.

Following, is characterized by the image of Thunder inside the Lake; the quality of Action inside Joy; as well as the characters The Eldest Son and The Youngest Daughter. These are various contemplations to concentrate ones focus on the question at hand.

To envision this, place your concentration of the 'Inside' at your navel, or the belly. Bring to mind there the image of Thunder as you have experienced thunder in your time thus far. From there, move to the idea of having action generating there from the Inside. Thunder, containing a masculine quality, or suddenness, or sudden strength, can also be imaged there inside your belly. Take some time to sift through this - the image, quality, and character - and make them personal to you. Personalize their energies, and feel them as they reside in your body - here, in the belly. The action of thunder, says much about M currently on the Inside.

On the outside, or just behind your forehead, imagine the image of Lake,which is synonymous to the quality of Joy. As I write this five blocks away from the beach here on this hot July afternoon, it does not take too great a leap to pair Lake with Joy...

#17, Following.

When we look here upon the correspondences between the bottom and top trigrams, lines 1 & 4 are both yang. This may illustrate a congruency for M at this time, in that his sense of self-hood is well established. The potential caution is of excessive yang which burns itself up more readily: but here both lines of yang are young yang, which speaks to me of having crossed through a time of transition, positioned well in what is fresh and new.

Lines 2 & 5 have yin inside yang. This is the area of interpersonal relations, and having yang in the fifth position (close to the 'leadership' of the sixth line) is generally a good thing. Every good leader needs excellent managers and supportive workers. Balanced and supported by the line below, this shows that M is in a place where he is flexible toward others while being active socially. Again, both lines are young and establishing, so the potential for growth and simultaneous renewal is present and balanced.

{ photo credit }

And in the last set of correspondences, lines 3 & 6, both are yin... which returns us again to the idea of being open and flexible to M's place in society, and how M is thinking on society. M is quite ready for new information and experiences.

So... what with all this seeming random positive-ness, what else is M to do other than to follow his own understanding of truth and benefit? Each step brings us closer toward seeing ourselves in our fulness. What - or rather, how - would you like to greet such a person?...

I am of the conviction that taking regular time to listen in for ones truest Question - to be present with your immediate sense of longing - is of immense health-giving benefit. It allows for our best decisions, personally, interpersonally, and how we may then become global citizens.

Thanks M. Looking forward to a round of Chess!