How could After Completion possibly lead to Arousing Shock?

[laylab]

To me after completion means that something, an event a situation a relationship etc..is over. Are there times when it is just a transitional condition?

I drew hex 63.3.4.5 today leading to 51.

The lines say:

Nine in the third place means:
The Illustrious Ancestor
Disciplines the Devil's Country.
After three years he conquers it.
Inferior people must not be employed.
What does the Devil's Country mean?

Six in the fourth place means:
The finest clothes turn to rags.
Be careful all day long.
This tells me that everythng deteriorates.

Nine in the fifth place means:
The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox
Does not attain as much real happiness
As the neighbor in the west
With his small offering.
What is the difference here or the reference to neighbor in the west as opposed to the neigbor in the east?

What do east and west sybolize?

and how can this lead to an arousal or shock?

[martin]

"63 leads to 51" is based on the idea that the second hex always represents the future but it doesn't necessarily do that. More often than not - at least in my experience - it makes more sense to interpret is as context or background. Or as a reflection of the question or the situation or state of mind of the questioner.

There don't seem to be any hard rules here, so you have to try different interpretations but 'future' is only one of the possibilities.

[trojan]

Something that may look like its done and dusted and settled is not at all. Its a precarious situation, requiring constant vigilance (line4) and stamina (line 3) and even then alot of effort actually gets you nowhere in comparision to someone (the neighbour) with more sincerity (line 5).

[laylab]

I sometimes have trouble understanding the relating hexagram because at first it seems like it means the future. How can we know whether or not it means the background to a situation (like cause and effect) or the future?

[martin]

I'm afraid there is no way to be sure. Oracles are ambiguous. Who is the neighbor in the east or in the west? One of them might be you, or not. And perhaps you are the ox! :eek:
An oracle gives you images and ideas but it doesn't say how these images and ideas relate to your reality. You have to find that out for yourself.
That also applies to the second hexagram. There are many possibilities, the oracle gives you that hexagram but doesn't tell you what it stands for.

Basically it's the same as with dreams. If you meet, say, a dog in a dream, what does it represent? When you are awake you know "that is a dog and this is me, I'm not the dog" but in a dream the dog may symbolize you. Or not. And if the dreamdog dog bites you, it may symbolize your own anger or something else.

This ambiguity is also a problem when you try to translate the Yi from the original Chinese. Because Chinese allows much more ambiguity than English and similar languages. If the Chinese says for example "cat dog bite" then how will you translate that?
"dog bites cat"? "cat bites dog"? "cat and dog are bitten"? :D
This is probably a bad example, I made it up and I don't know Chinese, but the point that I'm trying to make is clear I hope? :)

[magictortoise]

The hexagram of Thunder shows the first entrance of the yang line into the situation. It is not too far removed in meaning from hexagram 24, Return or hexagram 3, Difficulty At the Beginning. I see hexagram 51 as a new beginning after one has reached the farther shore. New yang...new potential. You have made one completion, now it is time to start anew. Every end is followed by a new beginning.


Best regards,

Ken

[hollis]

Something that may look like its done and dusted and settled is not at all. Its a precarious situation, requiring constant vigilance (line4) and stamina (line 3) and even then alot of effort actually gets you nowhere in comparision to someone (the neighbour) with more sincerity (line 5).

gosh you did that nicely. really like that answer Troj.:)

[trojan]

gosh you did that nicely. really like that answer Troj.:)

well in depth readings are my forte (not) :rofl:

[bradford]

You must have heard the expression "Don't get too comfortable"

[dobro]

In addition to what's been said so far, I'd like to add that sometimes the two hexagrams sort of overlap each other in the present. So, in this case the message might be something like: "Everything's settled into its proper place. What a shock, yes? ha ha!"

So you already know the relating hexagram can represent a strong tendency in the future, and Martin's pointed out how it can be background or context, and I'm saying that sometimes the two hexagrams meld into a single message. And I suppose it might even be antecedent to the main hex. You have to look at all the possibilities and see which one rings true, or else catch which of all the possibilities occurs to you first and seems right. That's the one you want.