Where is the "missing shoe"? 20.1,4 to 25

[bologna_tendra]

I had a dream in which I lost a shoe and walked out of a restaurant in a hilltop town and went searching for the shoe, believing I had lost it earlier that night on a bus ride up to the town. I walked down through the town as far as a crossroads at which point I can't recall the way anymore. Then I realise I had the shoe back up in the town and it was not lost on the journey. Then I woke, with a feeling this was a significant dream. I had two ideas of interpretation - one is I am searching for meaning, and in doing so I am searching too far into the past, when the key for meaning was with me all along. 2nd interpretation: that the meaning was with me and I subsequently went on a long journey (in my life - I lived in several parts of the world), when all along what I was searching for in my life was with me at the beginning. I inclined towards the first interpretation.

I therefore asked I Ching - where is the missing shoe?

For change in the first line Wilhelm speaks of a man of influence being at hand who is not understood by the masses, and the need to understand them. For change in the fourth line it says "it furthers one to exert influence as the guest of a king" - on reading this my immediate reaction is that it is advocating perhaps something like being a spiritual advocate, with "a king" being something such as Buddha or Jesus, although I suppose it could also refer to secular authority (or something else?)

For hexagram 25, it is "the unexpected". Wilhelm speaks of leaving "conscious purpose" for "the truth and innocence of nature". The judgement speaks of innocence, and of the need for man to be "as he should be". Wilhelm says that "devotion to this divine spirit within himself".

Incidentally in recent months I had a few dreams in which I was plunging into a dark sea, including one in which I was on a ferry which was swamped by waves underwater in the night. Following these I had a positive dream in which I stood on the shore and a peaceful single wave passed through the sea and as it did so made the sea entirely transparent. I interpreted this dream as being related to "a purification running through my life" - this seems to accord also with the I Ching verdict on the missing shoe dream.

Interested to hear anyone's views on this.

 

[my_key]

Hi bologna_tendra
A good approach with any dream analysis is to get a personal understanding of what each of the elements mean for you. What is represented by the restaurant; the hilltop town; the bus ride and the crossroads? It's also useful to be specific about the feelings you feel- not only at the end but at other points in the dream. You seem to have gone some way towards this in you interpretations. Additionally, it can be helpful you let the dreams come more fully to you rather than looking to chase after their meaning.

You may already have done all or some of these things, however whatever your journey with your dream you arrived at your question.

Q: Where is the missing shoe?
A: 20.1,4 to 25

'Watching' 'Without Falsehood'
The response is urging you to pay attention to what you see and to be prepared to look at things in a different way. You are heading in the right direction but still need to embrace some significant choices (20) concerning the truth of things around you (25).

20.1- Currently, how you see some things demonstrates only a shallow comprehension. This is how things are at the moment and is nothing to worry about. (maybe aligning with not being able ro recall the way?)
20.4 - Learn from watching others. Choose a way that shines out for you and then stick with it. Learn and teach, teach and learn. (maybe aligning with having to turn back at the crossroads?)

The nuclear of Hex 20 is Hex 23 so there is an essence of decay and decomposition; stripping the old away, in the driving seat of Hex 20. At times, when we are looking to advance, walking with only one shoe can well be a hinderance and the question still remains.....where is the missing shoe?

....or maybe it's nothing like this at all for you.

Good Luck

 

[bologna_tendra]

I think perhaps an action I could take in response is to commence maybe 5 minutes meditation each morning. I practiced meditation 10 years ago but not since then. It may be worth my while to begin cultivating more awareness of what is around me, taking myself more out of the ego.

 

[bologna_tendra]

James Legge writes of 20.1.4 "The fourth line, divided, shows one contemplating the glory of the kingdom. It will be advantageous for him, being such as he is, (to seek) to be a guest of the king."

What may it mean to be a guest of the King?