Using I Ching to interprete what 33.2 is about

[frodo]

Referring to:
http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_community/messages/92/4869.html?1122388435 ,
there is very contradicting views on what the cryptic line 33,2 is about:
"Holding fast with yellow oxhide. No one can tear him loose"

Should one retreat, but are hold fast in the situation. Or should one hold fast to the situatin and not retreat. Is it about stubbornnes, that should be overcome maybe?
Or should one put on the shamans mask(made by oxhide), as Karcher suggest?

I asked I Ching how this line should be understood. Why not go straight to the source :-)
It gave me: 26,6.
So, If I Ching is wright, it means something like: Be terminated and accumulate your energy in preparation for action. And doing this will bring succes, as one "attains the highway of heaven"

All the other lines in 33 are about retreat. It seems that 33.2 then says: Hold on to your idea (so much that no one can tear you loose), succes.

I even continued asking about the meaning of 26,6 (as this line also can be difficult to understand - what is the highway of heaven...)
And I got Hex 3 ( no moving lines). So it?s the beginning of growth, results will come with patience only.

Do you regard this approach as a path to understand the difficult lines in hexagrams?

[jte]

Hi, Frodo -

Context, context, context. IMHO, each line is a symbol - even the seemingly straightforward ones can mean a lot of different things.

Take the color red - as a symbol, it can mean very, very different things. Sure it can mean "stop", but it can mean a lot of other things. It's the color of love, but also the color of rage and hatred. In some cultures, the color of royalty, but it also means debauchery (red-light district), not to mention "danger", "intensity", "allure", "medical aid", etc, etc.

Anyhow, you get the idea. IMHO, I Ching lines have a core "meaning" that is ultimately multi-faceted like that. So I think the answer to your question really depends on the question you ask and the context.

That line could indeed mean "Hold on to your idea " while you retreat, in some contexts (in fact, I believe I've had it mean just that in a recent reading). But it could mean other things. For example, in a different context, it might mean "retreat as though your life depended on it and don't lose focus". In other cases, it might simply indicate a situation where two things are inextricably bound together.

I think this aspect of I Ching lines is part of what makes interpretation an art, not a science. And part of what makes the I Ching so broadly useful as well.

- Jeff

P.S. Love the name. :-)

[lightofdarkness]

ICPlus 33.2

"Holding on to power through one's position serves no purpose. OR holding on leads to power. Firm resolve. [Wilhelm seems to base his comments on the latter rather than the former. He suggests that the inferior person tenaciously holds on to the superior and thus benefits. The associate hexagram (09) suggests that one no longer has any power, and thus supports the original text.]"

[[ associate = change line and swap trigrams and o hex 09. This suggests the 'best response' to the change - IOW there is a need to build, re-estabish foundations to stand upon and then be noticed again. THAT is the 'retreat' - the best response to the stimulus]]