cheiron
January 10th, 2004, 04:00 PM
I thought to write a few words about why I think an exploration of the mythic imagery in the hexagrams might be of value.
The images in the Yi Jing are certainly many layered and I find they have a dramatic beauty making this approach worthwhile in itself?
I take as a given that we have two polarities (amongst many) ? the brightness of the conscious and the darkness of the unconscious.
When one tries to grasp the two together one is thrown into a (sometimes uncomfortable) ambivalence at the inherent paradox of their co-existent meaning and value.
In this ?Western? mode we attempt to bring light of consciousness to bear on things and to illuminate the shadows of the unconscious. However the problem with taking a bright light into the darkness of the unconscious is that whereas it can illuminate a small part it also throws the rest into an even greater darkness.
So? for years I have tried to understand what each hexagram represents. I have in other words tried to bring their deep meaning into the bright light of my consciousness. This has been most worthwhile as it has enabled me to shed light on the nature of the time I am in and to act accordingly. (within the limits of my perception and abilities). However it has meant losing some of the deeper aspects, some of the richness, embodied within them.
Put another way by bringing the meanings into the conscious light the remainder is left in the even greater shadow of the unconscious.
?For every bit of light we grasp out of archetypal ambivalence, illuminating with the candle of our ego a bright circle of awareness, we also darken the remainder of the room"... And... "We may not speak therefore of an evolutionary process of light emerging from darkness. The light is not stolen from the dark where there is privation of light; rather the ego concentrates into one pole the primordial half-light, therefore also darkening the divine. Snuff the candle and the twilight dawns again at the outer edges of the room which just before were impenetrable recesses of shadow.? (see end for ref.).
As we create consciousness we also create the unconscious? The conscious can never really exist without unconscious? it is only one pole of the two.
Analytic Psychology (Jungian approach) proposes that we must necessarily hold these polarities in a rapprochement in order to be whole. This school of thought proposes that it is the Soul which properly mediates between the polarities of the conscious and unconscious and it is that which can hold them in the necessary creative harmony.
The proposal goes further? it states that in modern ?Western? culture there has been a tendency to replace the soul, as mediator between the poles, with the ego. Also that the ego is not robust enough to hold the tensions between the two. This way also causes the soul to become ?unhitched? from the process and its suffering and illness reflect the torn condition of the unmediated polarities.
So it is that I am trying to grasp and uncover the 'mythic symbolism' within the hexagrams so that in this twilight my soul can grasp what my conscious ego would only darken.
The mythic approach is not the only way... but you do not want to read my poetry - believe me!
--Kevin
Reference: James Hillman: 'Puer Papers' Spring Publications, Texas, 1979.
With gratitude to the one who recommended this book to me.
The images in the Yi Jing are certainly many layered and I find they have a dramatic beauty making this approach worthwhile in itself?
I take as a given that we have two polarities (amongst many) ? the brightness of the conscious and the darkness of the unconscious.
When one tries to grasp the two together one is thrown into a (sometimes uncomfortable) ambivalence at the inherent paradox of their co-existent meaning and value.
In this ?Western? mode we attempt to bring light of consciousness to bear on things and to illuminate the shadows of the unconscious. However the problem with taking a bright light into the darkness of the unconscious is that whereas it can illuminate a small part it also throws the rest into an even greater darkness.
So? for years I have tried to understand what each hexagram represents. I have in other words tried to bring their deep meaning into the bright light of my consciousness. This has been most worthwhile as it has enabled me to shed light on the nature of the time I am in and to act accordingly. (within the limits of my perception and abilities). However it has meant losing some of the deeper aspects, some of the richness, embodied within them.
Put another way by bringing the meanings into the conscious light the remainder is left in the even greater shadow of the unconscious.
?For every bit of light we grasp out of archetypal ambivalence, illuminating with the candle of our ego a bright circle of awareness, we also darken the remainder of the room"... And... "We may not speak therefore of an evolutionary process of light emerging from darkness. The light is not stolen from the dark where there is privation of light; rather the ego concentrates into one pole the primordial half-light, therefore also darkening the divine. Snuff the candle and the twilight dawns again at the outer edges of the room which just before were impenetrable recesses of shadow.? (see end for ref.).
As we create consciousness we also create the unconscious? The conscious can never really exist without unconscious? it is only one pole of the two.
Analytic Psychology (Jungian approach) proposes that we must necessarily hold these polarities in a rapprochement in order to be whole. This school of thought proposes that it is the Soul which properly mediates between the polarities of the conscious and unconscious and it is that which can hold them in the necessary creative harmony.
The proposal goes further? it states that in modern ?Western? culture there has been a tendency to replace the soul, as mediator between the poles, with the ego. Also that the ego is not robust enough to hold the tensions between the two. This way also causes the soul to become ?unhitched? from the process and its suffering and illness reflect the torn condition of the unmediated polarities.
So it is that I am trying to grasp and uncover the 'mythic symbolism' within the hexagrams so that in this twilight my soul can grasp what my conscious ego would only darken.
The mythic approach is not the only way... but you do not want to read my poetry - believe me!
--Kevin
Reference: James Hillman: 'Puer Papers' Spring Publications, Texas, 1979.
With gratitude to the one who recommended this book to me.