Hi, fellow listers. Hope you're having a good holiday season. Sorry to disturb any revelries, but here's hoping you can help.

I've worked on some ideas for a while, and shared them with someone in a position to make them happen. When asked to present them, I asked the Yi what would be the best writing approach to take--you know, formal, informal, etc. It said:

29.4.5.6 changing to 64

I really struggled with this--especially the 29.6! How could there be evil in this? As a matter of fact, it would be evil NOT to do it. A few simple changes could save some people an awful lot of time and money. I read through the archives here for quite some time, then finally took another lister's advice to ask about clarifying the last line. I got:

32.1.4.6 changing to 26

Here, lines 1 and 6 again mention evil, with 4 saying there's no game, so that sounds pretty negative to me as well. Sigh.

There must be a lot more to this than I anticipated. Can anyone share some ideas about how to take this?

Nancy

I might see your 32 to 26 as an overall message to stop pushing for results too early. 32.1 warns of this, times when you want to make sure to fix things before they even happened. Leave off or let things go at their own pace. 32.4 theres no gain to this appraoch...a meddlesome appraoch perhaps and 32.6 just calm down, too much anxiety and restlessness get you nowhere. However for myself i do slightly see a situation where both first and last lines change a little differently..I tend to feel that the relating is very much within the primary..so if you can hold back acting precipitously there is a time to effect good changes...when the time is right. 26 can be about harnessing your resources not rushing in blindly and so having all the more value to the action when it is time. If your 32 to 26 was about a previous answer as to what the dnager was of 29.6 I guess I'd say looks to me like precipitate meddling and fixing increasing the pickle, the chains and ropes of 29.6 rather than helping. So although you see it as wrong not to intervene, (and of course I've no idea what the matter is about so it may indeed seem very crazy) looks by your answers intervening isn't the way to go yet.

As for 'evil' theres no need to get too fixated on that word, in relation to your question it can just be a warning of a less than fortunate outcome if one chooses a particular path.

Just glanced back at your intitial answer 29 to 64 that seems another way of giving you the same message...its not time yet to implement this, if you do you don't really know what your're dealing with or what you're doing.

"I asked the Yi what would be the best writing approach to take--you know, formal,
informal, etc" - 29.4.5.6 changing to 64

29 - "If you are sincere, you have success in your heart, And whatever you do succeeds".
29:4 - "Simply handed in through the Window" - choose plain low-key style, and email it.
29:5 - "filled only to the rim" - don't go overboard at this stage, keep it simple and plain.
29:6 - the misfortune will come if you don't follow the previous advice; if you are
inclined to go for much more, at this stage, it will take long to restore things.
64 - "not yet", you need to be very careful at this stage, and play the whole thing down.

"ask about clarifying the last line" - 32.1.4.6 changing to 26
32:1 tells you this is not the right time to push for a conclusion, or something big.
32:4 says "no game", if you push for a lot now, you won't achieve anything.
32:6 stresses the great importance of inner balance, and how anxiety can ruin things.
26 speaks of restraint.
So, about line 29:6, it's all about not acting 'big' at the wrong time, and self-control.

I really don't think it's telling you 'not to do it', only 'how to do it', and that's as the
lines describe. Both 64 and 26 are promising - there is a prospect of success, later, but
only if you manage to keep it low-key now and proceed very slowly and very carefully.

Softer Language

Forget about the word evil. The language of the Yi is often extremely frightening. Sarah Dening's translation uses softer language. Of 29.6, she points out that your attitude might be self-defeating.

Sometimes we can be off in our attitude, and that will certainly ruin our plans.

32.1, Trying to nail things down too early can be a big mistake . . . Remember, you'll be stuck with the consequences later . . .

Trojan, Diamanda and Barbra

What I'm doing is this. In my profession, I've noticed a few simple things that we could do that will make life easier for everyone, but in particular, for the ones that we're hired and elected to serve. They aren't in a position to know that their "failures" are in actuality, our failures. Now, as a young person, I wouldn't give a rat's you-know-what about any of this. But as an older professional, it bothers me. So I've become the thorn in our administration's (and everyone else's) behind. I guess I've become obsessive about it.

Now, I don't really consult the Tarot, since I feel like it's got a lot of magic associated with it that the I Ching doesn't (well, that's kind of a strange thing to say, I guess, since I don't really know how other people think about the Yi Ching regarding magic). Anyway, I asked what the "evil" was about, and it said that me, the asker, was the problem. Five of swords, negative, unbalanced regarding the subject and all that.

It said exactly what you guys are saying! I guess I really have become obsessive about all this. But how odd that it's checking me right at the point when someone's listening. I would have loved it if, thirty years ago, someone had said to me, "Hey, you're right, let's fix this". Now, someone in a position to know and do something, is saying "let's fix this", and I'm getting evil? That's annoying.

But you guys are all right. I need to back off, take a deep breath, and then start over.

Trojan, your detailed analysis gives me lots to think about. I don't feel like I'm being meddlesome or anxious, but I can't see myself from the outside, now can I? And since I said I'd have something by this weekend, if I don't do it, I'm going to be disrespectful to the person helping with all this. It puts me in a bind. But I think you nailed it--I've become too wound up in all this to see anything objectively.

Diamanda, your advice to keep things low key and easy is very welcome, and the line by line breakdown is brilliant.

Barbra, I love your alternative interpretation of "uneasy" rather than "evil". I do think I've become kind of odd about this, and need to go out and take a walk with my granddaughter.

Thanks so the three of you for being so kind. I don't know what the difference is between obsessive and driven, but I guess I've crossed it, and need to check myself before I go much further. In the meantime, a walk in the field is what's needed.

Nancy