Hello ... as a point of introduction I have been reading the forums and other information on the site for almost a year and I continue to be impressed with all the knowledge everyone shares.

I recently consulted the I Ching around questions that I hoped would generate answers to assist with personal growth.

Question 1: "What are my greatest strengths?" I received Hexagram 14 unchanging.

Question 2: "What are my greatest weaknesses" I received Hexagram 14 to Hexagram 23.

Any insights would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

Hi Firehorse66 and welcome. Sometimes people's strengths ARE their weaknesses. Do you have any ideas formulated as to what hexagram 14 would be hinting at for your questions?

Hello ... thanks for helping me mull this over. I have spent some time reading about Hex 14 and it seems to emphasize modesty and humbleness when considering one's assets -- whether those assets be material goods or personal characteristics. So, in order to be at my most effective I need to remember to be humble and modest. I am struggling with Hex 14 to 23 as it relates to my weaknesses -- what I have come up with so far is if I do not take care to be humble and modest I will lose touch and split apart from important aspects of myself. That makes sense to me but I'm not sure if that's a correct interpretation of Hex 23. : )

firehorse66 said:

Hello ... thanks for helping me mull this over. I have spent some time reading about Hex 14 and it seems to emphasize modesty and humbleness when considering one's assets -- whether those assets be material goods or personal characteristics. So, in order to be at my most effective I need to remember to be humble and modest. I am struggling with Hex 14 to 23 as it relates to my weaknesses -- what I have come up with so far is if I do not take care to be humble and modest I will lose touch and split apart from important aspects of myself. That makes sense to me but I'm not sure if that's a correct interpretation of Hex 23. : )

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Are you thinking that 23, the relating hexagram, is the future ? It isn't, its the context, where you are coming from...so you are coming from a place of stripping, where have lost or are losing important things whether emotional or material. In that context you have a very powerful movement towards possessing in great measure.

The change pattern, where one sees all changing lines as yang is 34....so theres power here, the yin pattern is hex 20, contemplating BTW no need to think about those if you are a newbie as will complicate things but ithelps me think....see those 4 lines moving as quite a powerful energetic force.... rebuilding perhaps ?


I see no especial need for humbleness...gratitude is a more useful attitude with 14, using what you have.

perhaps you have found your way out of a bit of trouble and need a bitof time to think about it...but the energy and resources are there....but both 23 and 14 stress the need for generosity, in giving to those 'below' so i think perhaps a spirit of charity is more needed than alot of humility etc etc....when you have alot you can give alot

firehorse66 said:

Hello ... as a point of introduction I have been reading the forums and other information on the site for almost a year and I continue to be impressed with all the knowledge everyone shares.

I recently consulted the I Ching around questions that I hoped would generate answers to assist with personal growth.

Question 1: "What are my greatest strengths?" I received Hexagram 14 unchanging.

Question 2: "What are my greatest weaknesses" I received Hexagram 14 to Hexagram 23.

Any insights would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

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ah just saw this...these kind of questions always get 14....you ARE you Have

I think these questions presuppose you fixedly have these traits whilst infact you are a living life stream, part of the flow and you are 'in it' not outside it....


Yi gave you 14 and you are looking for faults...maybe your fault is disowning (23) your wealth (14) ? which may not be a million miles from what i said in previous post

firehorse66 said:

Hello ... as a point of introduction I have been reading the forums and other information on the site for almost a year and I continue to be impressed with all the knowledge everyone shares.

I recently consulted the I Ching around questions that I hoped would generate answers to assist with personal growth.

Question 1: "What are my greatest strengths?" I received Hexagram 14 unchanging.

Question 2: "What are my greatest weaknesses" I received Hexagram 14 to Hexagram 23.

Any insights would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

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Thanks for sharing this ironic reading.

I've nearly always received 14 during a time when my self esteem feels low, so it takes some convincing during such times that I actually possess anything great. But I take Yi's word for it, or rather the force behind Yi's word. So it's up to you to believe the Yi's answer, that you do possess greatness, in spite of any sense of low self-esteem you may have. Not to do so is to strip away the potential you possess for greatness. The question becomes, what is this greatness that 14 speaks of? I believe this is something that each one of us must find in ourselves. We can think of 23 as seeking what lies deeper, looking behind our mask, trimming what is superficial, and feeding the roots of our being. This is the way to turn weakness into strength. Not through superficial, scraggly and unfruitful branches, but through strong, deep and well fed roots. The light of heaven is within.

Thanks so much Trojan for your extensive reply ... what you have said ties together well ... it's a lot of food for thought!

meng said:

Thanks for sharing this ironic reading.

I've nearly always received 14 during a time when my self esteem feels low, so it takes some convincing during such times that I actually possess anything great. But I take Yi's word for it, or rather the force behind Yi's word. So it's up to you to believe the Yi's answer, that you do possess greatness, in spite of any sense of low self-esteem you may have. Not to do so is to strip away the potential you possess for greatness. The question becomes, what is this greatness that 14 speaks of? I believe this is something that each one of us must find in ourselves. We can think of 23 as seeking what lies deeper, looking behind our mask, trimming what is superficial, and feeding the roots of our being. This is the way to turn weakness into strength. Not through superficial, scraggly and unfruitful branches, but through strong, deep and well fed roots. The light of heaven is within.

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Thank you for this meng ... I read something earlier about Hex 23 and the notion of pruning. And I like the concept of stripping away superficiality. I consider my overall sense of self-esteem to be pretty healthy ... but I have recently devoted more effort to some artistic endeavors and I wonder sometimes how much time should I spend on them at the expense of other things. But perhaps it's not so much a matter of time but a matter of focus and eliminating things that amount to distractions so I have enough to give to everything that is important to me.