Should I fast today? 55 unchanging

[liquidity]

So I've fasted sometimes in the past for health and for weight loss. It definitely helps. But I haven't done it in quite a while, and I have been eating badly in the last several days, so I thought, this might be a good time to fast. But I was torn about whether to do it today, tomorrow, or slowly work myself up to it later.

I just asked: should I fast today?
55 Abundance, unchanging. (WB translations)
Judgment: "Abundance has success. The king attains abundance. Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday."
Image: "Both thunder and lightning come: the image of Abundance. Thus the superior man decides lawsuits and carries out punishments."

So this is interesting. On the one hand the judgment says success. On the other hand the hexagram is abundance, and talks of being like the sun at midday, which doesn't sound like success. Fasting has some resonance with the kind of 'punishment' (for my eating badly?) mentioned in the image, but I view it as a good thing and not really a punishment.

Thoughts?

 

[Qiaozhi Yeats]

So I've fasted sometimes in the past for health and for weight loss. It definitely helps. But I haven't done it in quite a while, and I have been eating badly in the last several days, so I thought, this might be a good time to fast. But I was torn about whether to do it today, tomorrow, or slowly work myself up to it later.

I just asked: should I fast today?
55 Abundance, unchanging. (WB translations)
Judgment: "Abundance has success. The king attains abundance. Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday."
Image: "Both thunder and lightning come: the image of Abundance. Thus the superior man decides lawsuits and carries out punishments."

So this is interesting. On the one hand the judgment says success. On the other hand the hexagram is abundance, and talks of being like the sun at midday, which doesn't sound like success. Fasting has some resonance with the kind of 'punishment' (for my eating badly?) mentioned in the image, but I view it as a good thing and not really a punishment.

Thoughts?

Being like the sun at midday means that you have achieved success and now you should sit back and savour it to my mind. I generally consult on expressing myself, which is a yang action to my mind, so the sun at midday in 55 I usually take as an indication to keep to myself. How this relates to fasting, which is more of a yin action to my mind, I'm not quite sure.

I divined for "how does the sun at midday relate to fasting?" and received 26, 1, 2 > 52.

26 I usually translate as "nurturance of the great", which fasting certainly is in my opinion.

My translations for the changing lines are 1: "danger is at hand, wise to desist from efforts towards progress", and 2: "the axel of the cart is broken", leading to 52: "mountain or stillness".

I hate to mention the obvious danger of COVID, in fact I don't think this is so simply related, but rather in combination with line 2, the motivation for asking the oracle this particular question is dangerous and it is wise to desist from basing one's fasting methods on such questions to the oracle at the beginning of nurturance, it being the first line. In other words, you are being overly observant and analytical of yourself in trying to find the "best" way forward, this can lead to neuroticism.

The second line is similar, implying too much self-restraint, which could apply not just to the question but to the act of fasting itself.

All in all, I would sit back and relax, COVID is probably making you nervous like most of us, and in fact this is the relationship with the danger mentioned in line one. Be still, don't react to nervous agitation to improve yourself greatly at this time. First relax and feel comfortable with the situation and then you will know when it is time to fast.

That is my interpretation and reading anyway,

Thank you.

 

[liquidity]

All in all, I would sit back and relax, COVID is probably making you nervous like most of us, and in fact this is the relationship with the danger mentioned in line one. Be still, don't react to nervous agitation to improve yourself greatly at this time. First relax and feel comfortable with the situation and then you will know when it is time to fast.

That is my interpretation and reading anyway,

Interesting interpretation, thank you! I will say that I did end up sort of relaxing for a bit, and eating in the morning... but then decided to fast later in the day when I was feeling more comfortable with it. And that worked out.