I ask the I-Ching what is blocking my prosperity and I got hexagram 55 which is FENG and with line 4 as the change to hexagram 36 MING-YEE. I use the book by Martin Palmer, Kwok Man-Ho and Joanne O'Brien for interpretation.

I have been out of job for 3 years and my financial resources has diminish to almost zero. During the past 3 years I have been trying to do the things I can to bring in some money but no luck.

In their book, the hex 55 says :-

Prosperity. Sucess. There is nothing to worry about because the king achieves everthing. He should be like the sun at midday.

"FENG combines fire and thunder in its lower and upper trigrams, Li and Chen. The earth is bright with fire and the sky is lit by thunder and lightning. The thunder also causes rain, which nourishes plants, trees and flowers, and thus ensure that we have a wealthy year. Li is a sign of a strong productive government, which ensures a healthy living standard and which is powerful and well regarded by all people, like the sound of thunder which can be heard from a great distance.

Because the ground is covered in light and the thunder rules strongly in the sky there is a wealthy, strong situation which could possibly collapse or be destroyed by others. Because Li is so bright there is no need to worry, there are no dark or unintelligible forces around. When the thunder and lightning disappear darkness will come, just as the full moon eventually wanes or the noon sun begins to sink. One moment Heaven and earth may be vigorous and abundant, and the next they may be dull and sparse. because the world continues to grown and diminish according to the seasons. This is how our lives and spirits are also guided. A wise man must be strong like the lightning, determining the path between right and wrong and justly apportioning punishment.

Fourth nine
His prosperity is like a curtain. through which he can see the stars in the Dipper constellation at Midday. He meets his king and they are alike. There will be good fortune.
(If your self-esteem is too great you will blind yourself to the real issues. Someone must rescue you from this darkness so you can see clearly again)

OK the , I think I do understand th hex. For the past 3 years I only wanted to work what I want which I KNOW I am good at and I simply refuse to do any other kind of jobs. I kept telling myself if others can do what they want, why can't I? So no matter how poor I am I refuse to do waitressing jobs or sales jobs which I hate the most. (Is this Karma? the more you hate something the more one will be force to face it?).

Right maybe I am now blinded by my anger or whatever you call it but who is that 'someone' mention in the hexagram that will help me? What is the interpretation of this line? Can I know is it good for bad?

Anyone can help me to understand?

Thanks all in advance

Hi Peng,

Based on line 4, relating to a time of darkness (36), the darkness is passing. A way opens up to you. Your talent and ability come into view and is recognized. This is only the beginning of this uncovering of light though, and only the judgment has been made, not the execution of the work. The energy is there, but not fully the necessary wisdom, or receptivity.

C

Hi Peng,

IMHO, line 4, is referring to yourself, your inner self, the self that is perplexed by your continual shooting of your own foot. The question here as you describe it seems to be one of economic dire straits. So, toss your ego, take a job which may seem to be 'beneath your station', and voila, something really great and prosperous will happen from a totally unexpected direction.

I wish you the best of luck and prosperity as I know the situation which you describe. But, only by DOING SOMETHING will the darkness begin to dissipate and the light unfold.

Namaste,
Leonard

Hi, Peng -

Sorry to hear about your difficult life situation. I've also found the lines on 55 difficult to interpret. Some thoughts on your answer:

- Ordinarily, if I heard 55.4 as an answer to a question like yours, I'd think NETWORKING (an important job finding skill). I'd think that the answer meant that good networking would be the key to meeting the right person - in this case, the "king" would be the right boss: the one who decides to hire you.

- However, you seem to have asked the question in a particular way: What's *blocking* your prosperity. Given that way of asking the question, I would see the answer as indicating that *other people* with your skills have gotten most of the available jobs in your field (at least at the present time). They have already "met the king."

Given that, I'd say that Leonard's advice above sounds like the wisest way to go. Some other type of job at least takes you through the tough current times.

You have my genuine sympathy, and I hope this helps you in what must be a difficult time.

- Jeff

Line 4 of hex.55 is a very difficult one, and I still don't know for sure what it means.
But Hex.55 is about making plans, gathering allies, setting out to conquer the big enemy state, which came into decline.

Feng, the name of 55, means abundance, but Feng is also the name of King Wen's garrison, from there he gathered troops for fighting the Shang. King Wen himself died there, but his son Wu took over.
The 'ruler' in line 4 is maybe 'the lord of Yi'. Yi can mean barbarian, wounded, obscured, but it is also a name of a tribe. And it is half of the name of hex.36! This line changes to 36.
Ming Yi (the name of 36) means 'brightness obscured' - or maybe 'Bright Barbarian'?

When Wu wanted to set out for war, there was an eclipse, the sun disappeared and the stars became visible:
55.4: "Feng was so obscured at noon, that the Dipper was seen. Meeting the lord of the Yi-tribe. Auspicious"

Maybe it has something to do with not showing your light, your intentions. Probably the Yi-tribe was not very positive towards Wen and Wu, so Wu had to be careful when negotiating with him, in order not to lose his cooperation. Keeping his cards close to his chest or winning his confidence or something like that.
But I am not at all sure about this.
But 'setting out for a fight', and not being too open about your intentions seems quite clear to me, from the combination of 55 and 36.

About Feng being a garrison, and about the eclipse, see 'The Mandate Of Heaven' by S. Marshall.

LiSe

Hey LiSe
I think this is a Fan Yao reference to 36.4, which concerns the covert gathering of intelligence. In 55.4 I think it's making use of the darkness already thrust upon one (instead of seeking it out) to transform a bewildering experience into more useful intelligence.
In this unemployment situation I might use the confusion to learn about such things as niches in the economy that aren't being filled, what I really wanted to do with my life, or are there new skills I should be learning.
In this case, the someone is me not making the most of the situation.

Oops, forgot-
55.4 says "yu qi yi zhu", with yi as in ming yi.
Encountering their hidden leader?
Learning the forces at work in the background, or (curtain metaphor) behind the scenes? Do pay attention to the man behind the curtain!