Blog post: Stripping Away, no mistake

[hilary]

Stripping Away, no mistake

Hexagram 23, Stripping Away, is not generally much fun.

Of course, we all know there is no such thing as a negative hexagram. But it’s a rare reading when the sight of 23 fills one with joy. Stripping away means loss; usually, it means having something taken from you that you would really have preferred to keep.

Often it’s a sense of life direction, a plan, a self-concept – though, of course, anything can be stripped away: material, emotional, spiritual or social. The name of the hexagram originally means peeling or even flaying, a reminder that what you are losing is superficial.

But then we’re not wired to enjoy losing anything, and especially not our sense of purpose and agency. Hexagram 23 can be a particularly blunt response to questions of ‘Where next? What’s the next step?’ –

‘Stripping away.
Fruitless to have somewhere to go.’

Hexagram 23, the Oracle

Nothing doing: there isn’t a ‘next step’ or a place to go. As the Commentary on the Oracle puts it:

‘Accept and stop here
Look at the image
The noble young one respects waning and waxing as surplus and want
And as heaven’s behaviour.’

Hexagram 23, Tuanzhuan, translated by Bradford Hatcher

In other words: this is how it works.

That’s the point of line 3, too:

‘Stripping away. No mistake.’

23.3

I’ve found Yi usually says ‘no mistake’ when we think something must be wrong – and it can be a challenge to understand why/how it isn’t. Here at line 3, on the verge of stepping across the threshold between the trigrams and out into the world, we might well be gearing up for action. So Yi reminds us that Stripping Away – nothing to do, nowhere to be – is not a mistake.

As for why it isn’t… the relating hexagram for this line is 52, Stilling: a time to stop. More from the Tuanzhuan (Commentary on the Oracle):

‘Stillness
Means to keep still.
If time to stop, then stop
If time to move, then move.
When activity and rest do not lose their timing
One’s path is revealed and clarified.’

52, Tuanzhuan, trans. Bradford Hatcher

changing to

Hexagram 23’s inner trigram earth is solidifying into mountain: a natural boundary, offering solid footing where we can stop on this side of the threshold, look out at the world and understand how much doesn’t need doing. (Line 4, by contrast, out across the threshold and looking for something useful to do, gets into real trouble.)

In my part of the world, November is a good time of year to understand this. Leaves are falling – and don’t need sticking back on the branches. The trees are becoming dormant for the winter, metabolism slowed, growth suspended.

‘Stripping away.
Fruitless to have somewhere to go.’

You don’t always have to be going somewhere. Sometimes it’s winter, time to rest – to slow down, not to grow. If time to stop, then stop.

 

[my_key]

Hi Hilary

You are right that 23 gets a bad press in many peoples eyes, however that could well come through mis-apprehensions around the name and the nature of its actions. As you say many people tend to focus on aspects of loss and the perceived personal discomfort associated with acts of 'stripping'; flaying of skin or cutting of flesh. Not pretty images for the faint of heart to hold.

An alternative picture is one based in the early rituals in the temples. Bo, according to Karcher, referred to the first burial of the corpse where earthly actions ensured the flesh was peeled and stripped from the bone as it rotted. This action apparently feeds the soul anew as it is guided through the underworld. The ritual continues when the bones are subsequently gathered / disinterred, rubbed in red ochre and then put out in a vase / urn, and at this point the soul is ready to return through the sway imposed by the image. This ritual encourages talking to spirit and influencing it to come back to the body rather than acting through an exorcism to remove it as a bad influence. As such at this level it is reversing a soul loss.

On a soul level 23 promotes spiritual healing and growth and as a consequence it is easily understood that this may be interpreted as connecting with loss at an egoic level when what happens during the healing is viewed as a material, emotional, or social privation.

Rather than loss the meaning of the hexagram can relate to the idea that something is rotten or rotting. Bradford Hatcher himself named 23 ' Decomposing. He translates the overall image as

The mountain depends on the earth
Decomposing
Superiors, accordingly, are generous to subordinates
Confirming their positions

It is perhaps appropriate, therefore, to view Bradford's extracts taken from the Tuanzhuan in this context, and not one nesting in an overarching meaning of loss. However all this decomposing works, there is certainly no mistake when you place your trust in a natural process of decay.

In a similar vein Huang portrays the ideograph as being representative of the creative art of carving or engraving. The process of which involves pieces of stone or wood falling away. In such a process the focus is more on what remains rather than what has been removed or lost. He names the hexagram, not surprisingly, 'Falling Away'; a more gentle, user-friendly, depiction than the potentially harsh sounding 'Stripping Away'.

When first encountering 23 'Stripping Away', my mind was invariably drawn to my DIY ventures and encounters with redecorating a room with walls that covered by wallpaper that had been put up maybe 20 or 30 years before. My initial approach involved copious dowsing of the paper with hot soapy water applied by a brush that was impossible to control. Water ended up everywhere!

With trusty scraper in hand, parts of the covering were peeled away easily however there were always areas where the paper stuck tenaciously to the wall. I would go at these areas from all directions, using all sorts of improvised tools and techniques. This invariably included the paper being scored with a Stanley knife blade, which always produced deep cuts into the plaster that were only apparent after the paper was peeled away. Similarly, my tools of choice became increasingly excessive as I employed brute force and ignorance to the extent that I created larger divots in the wall that the area of paper I was effectively removing.

None of the directions I approached the situation from were successful other than in increasing my frustration and anger at the @*$$%£# wallpaper and the level of beating up on myself. Invariably, I reached a point where I realised I had nowhere else to go. I skulked away defeated by the paper to have a nice calming cup of tea (as many of us Brits do on such occasions).

On many occasions when I returned to the scene I would only do so reluctantly and would hesitate at picking up my scraper to continue. To my amazement often the paper could now be easily removed. The natural action of the soap and water on the resolute bonds, keeping the areas of recalcitrant wall paper attached to the wall, had brought about by an almost miraculous decomposition. The outcome of the invisible action was that paper just fell off the wall with the most gentle of promptings.

The misconceptions around how the energies of 23 act, could well be what the text of I Ching is warning against. It energies just don't work properly when you impose a direction. Like with anything energy follows thought and believing that any oracle is out to cause damage or loss to your eternal soul is missing the point.

The reference you make, Hilary, to nature and the natural change that trees undergo, at this time in the cycle of the year is a valid and relevant one.

In my part of the world, November is a good time of year to understand this. Leaves are falling – and don’t need sticking back on the branches. The trees are becoming dormant for the winter, metabolism slowed, growth suspended.

The nature of the action is that the leaves are not actively stripped away from the trees but are rather gently falling from the tree. They have no other direction to go after the disintegration of their point of connection to that old tree. They all follow the natural cycle of things realising at some deep level that there is no other direction for them to go in other than along the path of the annual cycle. Decay takes the lead in eliminating an outmoded existence and then gravity steps in to complete the direction of fall. There are invariably no mistakes in this process.

Britain names this time of the year Autumn. Our US friends have stolen a march, I fancy, by calling this time of year Fall.

 

[my_key]

Reflecting on this alternative perspective a bit more.

Although not explicit in the outline of the ritual there is knife clearly residing in the ideograph of 23. Other ancient two-stage rituals resembling this one, displayed in other cultures, did include at the start of the second stage the removal of the remnants of partially decomposed flesh and skin by scraping or cutting with sharp implements. It was easier to remove the rotten residues in this manner than the fresh flesh. This reveals more completely the natural whiteness at the core of the corpse and assists to expedite the second spiritual aspect of the sacred ritual.

Karcher only comments on this second stage with " The exposure is prepared by stripping the corpse of it's clothing, changing the bed-mat and laying it out on a 'water-bed' made of three planks. This can be taken at face value or engaged with more at the level of the rich imagery and symbolism contained.

This might even be an echo of the process alluded to by the preceding hexagram 22 'Adorning,' which works to bring out the core beauty of things and climaxes at 22.6 with 'Adorning in pure white'. Perhaps, the simplicity of the skeletal inner beauty is further enhanced and becomes the star of the show in 23. Thus allowing easier passage for the 'Return' and starting of the transformation and healing of the newly influenced soul at the site of Hex 24.

All of the workings of 23 are guided at a deep level by its nuclear, 2 'Earth'. Interred in the deep, dark, depths of Mother Earth, that which no longer beautifies is decomposed and the energies are motivated in ways that are nurturing of a natural flow towards the realisation of the next part of the restoration. Perhaps this process began back in the bowels of 18 'Remedying' and reaches a point of shining accomplishment in 30 Clarity.

Interestingly, taking a step further into Karcher-land, the shadow of 23 is 42 ''Augmenting / The Blessing'. The Shadow hexagram gives you a picture of what in the current situation is being cover by a negative screen that is often constructed by painful past deeds and memories. gives you a hexagram that represents what is, at the moment, counter-indicated in your situation, covered by a sort of negative screen that can contain often painful memories.

In 23 a persons painful memories or deeds are mistakenly seen as augmenting who they are and, perhaps, even a blessing. The misconceptions that something is being lost at the egoic level, within 23 is more than likely blocking, or at the very least, slowing transformation. These perspectives reside firmly under the influence of the Shadow. The processes of first nurturing decay and then undergoing a secondary sprucing up are maybe a necessary belt and braces approach, that ensures the shadow energy has become completely disempowered through it disintegration.

The long utilised blinkers have been thrown in the rubbish bin, and new insights and awareness comes flooding in during the 23 process, very often bathed in eureka or spontaneous aha-moments. Releasing its historical powerful hold in this way allows for the doors to be flung open to a welcoming surprise party for that which is about to return.

 

[Hans_K]

Of course, we all know there is no such thing as a negative hexagram. But it’s a rare reading when the sight of 23 fills one with joy. Stripping away means loss; usually, it means having something taken from you that you would really have preferred to keep.

Isn't that exactly what the yang line on the 6th position represents?

H23, I believe, is indirectly about letting go of control. H23 deals with the end of a process or cycle, it is associated with the ninth month (October)in the lunar calendar (note: the lunar calendar starts in February ).
It is the middle/end of autumn, the life energy/yang force is almost withdrawn and everything is getting ready for winter. When we see H23 in this light, it all becomes a lot less heavy and "negative" and maybe even positive. H23 as a response in a difficult process or situation shows that things are coming to an end.

The reason we generally perceive H23 as difficult or "negative" is reflected in yang line at the 6th position.
In the natural process of change, this yang line is pushed out of the hexagram, so to speak, by the other 5 yin lines. The next step in this process is H2, just yin lines.
But this yang line still wants all kinds of things at this position, it wants action, controle, etc. but is not in the right position for that. It is the line of the Sage, the one who oversees, contemplates, perhaps advises, but certainly has no active role in the process, he/she cannot change or achieve anything here.

All those who find H23 a difficult or negative hexagram are represented by the yang line at the 6th position. We want all kinds of things, to be in control of a situation, to bend things to our will, etc. but, when H23 appears, we are no longer able to do so. If we could let go of control, let the process take its course, H23 would not be perceived as difficult or negative. Perhaps even as hopeful, because after each end of a cycle there is also the certainty of the beginning of a new cycle (H24).

With the exception of the moving line at the 5th position, every line shows the effect when we still try to control the situation in some way.

At lines 1 and 2 there is still the possibility of withdrawal, letting go of control so that the process of deterioration is witnessed but has no personal effect, but ignoring that advice will be unfortunate.

In lines 3 and 4, the process of deterioration has a personal effect, we have become part of the process, so to speak.
At the 6th line, the process of deterioration is at its peak.
The fruit spoken of remains uneaten, it falls to the ground allowing the seed to provide a new beginning. Here we have the choice to go down with the process or get the hell out.

The only line that is “positive” is line 5. The reason the moving line at the 5th position is "positive" is due to the fact that it is the position of the Leader, the King, and this moving yin line here does exactly what is called for in this situation, which is doing nothing.
This line is the leader in doing nothing, of letting the process take its course, hence the text of this line talks about:

Like a string of fish
The court ladies form a line.
One is favored.
There is nothing that is not beneficial.

The court ladies that form a line like a string of fish refer to the lower 4 yin lines (both fish and court ladies are associated with yin) following the line at the 5th position.
Thus, if we were able to adopt the advice and attitude of this line, H23 need not be perceived as difficult or negative, perhaps even the opposite: One is favored. There is nothing that is not beneficial.

 

[my_key]

At lines 1 and 2 there is still the possibility of withdrawal, letting go of control so that the process of deterioration is witnessed but has no personal effect, but ignoring that advice will be unfortunate.

In lines 3 and 4, the process of deterioration has a personal effect, we have become part of the process, so to speak.
At the 6th line, the process of deterioration is at its peak.
The fruit spoken of remains uneaten, it falls to the ground allowing the seed to provide a new beginning. Here we have the choice to go down with the process or get the hell out.

Interesting exploration, Hans. I like the way you divide the lines into their natural 'buckets'.

The nucleus of a possibility of small things disintegrating is laid out on the earth in lines 1 and 2.

The personal choice of going with the disintegration or not rests within man (or woman). Walking in the land of Ownership. Perhaps, 3 encompasses the first steps along the path and so too early for any fault. 4 represents more steps towards the point of no return. Everything is laid out on the bed for you to see and there is a greater danger of the misfortune if ownership and acceptance of the disintegration is not taken.

Progression through the preceding doors that have been opened by the feminine leads to accepting disintegration of the small within and brings favourable results.

Bypassing completely the fruit that was available means the perceived pain of loss has outweighed the benefits of growing a new crop. The small have won the day, what is rotten within remains. The pain of loss felt by the small is victorious and continues to cloud the potential of clearer skies.