Progress In The Great Work

silent octavius · Mar 14, 2014

The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will. - Eliphas Levi

The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego.

The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophers—by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work—is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN - Aleister Crowley

Question: "Oracle for my progress in The Great Work?"

Answer: Hexagram 2 with lines 2 and 5 changing into hexagram 29.

sooo · Mar 14, 2014

"Man achieves the height of wisdom when all that he does is as self-evident as what nature does." Wilhelm 2.2

Being open to previous answers to previous questions is a sign of the receptive.

It appears that your part in the "Great Work" is to acknowledge what has been already here all along.

"It will not come when it is expected. No one will say: 'See, it is here!' or: 'Look, it is there!' but the Kingdom of the Father is spread over the earth and men do not see it." Gospel of Thomas

Therefore the great work is to see it, not to invent it. Man isn't so great other than what he recognizes as being repeated since the beginning.

pocossin · Mar 14, 2014

Oracle for my progress in The Great Work?
2.2.5 → 29

Auspicious.
2: You are the medium through which the universe expresses itself.
2.2: When your purpose is the purpose of the universe, you obtain liberation.
2.5: Develop yourself by work in the world.

29: Death. PHAEDO: How the True Philosopher Practices for Death.

Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death. If this is true, and they have actually been looking forward to death all their lives, it would of course be absurd to be troubled when the thing comes for which they have so long been preparing and looking forward.

Sufi saying: Die before you die.

Trojina · Mar 14, 2014

silent octavius said:
Question: "Oracle for my progress in The Great Work?"

Answer: Hexagram 2 with lines 2 and 5 changing into hexagram 29.

Your quotes make me recoil somewhat....sounding so purely male, so much about some 'great work'...so interesting you get hexagram 2 as the answer...and 2.2 'there is no great work' The whole answer calls for understanding that this isn't about what great works men do...it's already done and they didn't make the earth and everything in it. Your answer shows their work is finding their/your proper place in service (hex 2)

Looking at the language in the quote "man's will" , "man himself" and the ultimate in manly arrogance Crowley speaks this piffle

and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN

Good Grief. I love that you got hex 2 as an answer. Some would say 'man' here covers both men and women but in effect it really doesn't. I don't feel included in those quotes. Whatever this great creation is Yi has given you hex 2 for balance possibly. 29 as relating cast ? Come back to earth sometime soon won't you

sooo · Mar 14, 2014

trojan said:
Come back to earth sometime soon won't you

:bows:

silent octavius · Mar 14, 2014

Pocossin: Getting ready for death is something that I've been slowly, but surely preparing for.

silent octavius · Mar 14, 2014

Trojan: The quotes were meant for those who weren't familiar with the term "The Great Work". Sorry if they sounded too "male". The Great Work is basically union/integration etc. The paths to achieve this are various. Each person has to find his own. My question was basically asking a "progress report" from the I Ching. I asked because I'm at point where I'm unsure if I'm making any progress whatsoever. Everything is confusion and delusion. In other words I'm lost. No amount of meditation, devotion or whatnot seems to be pointing to a way out.

anemos · Mar 14, 2014

whose name is MAN

I see "MAN' as neither male nor female but what we call Hemaphrodite. I heard somewhere that God didn't create Eve from the ribs of Adam but he took away a part of him . To me makes more sense -the split . Other splits followed , hence the quest for the reunion.

Question: "Oracle for my progress in The Great Work?"

Answer: Hexagram 2 with lines 2 and 5 changing into hexagram 29.

I think 29 echoes the second part of the quote - the on going process that needs continuous effort. I personally don't like Big Words, like Great Work and such cuz they make simple things unnecessarily "big" and "heavy" and this heaviness, i think, your reading tries to take away.

Funny , but this reading brings in mind scenes from Karate Kid- the anxious-to-learn Daniel and the serene Miyaki .My impression is that Yi says " don't ask" and "If you are sincere, you have success in your heart,And whatever you do succeeds" , your 29. and both 2.2 & 2.5 embolden that.

anemos · Mar 14, 2014

silent octavius said:
My question was basically asking a "progress report" from the I Ching. I asked because I'm at point where I'm unsure if I'm making any progress whatsoever. Everything is confusion and delusion. In other words I'm lost. No amount of meditation, devotion or whatnot seems to be pointing to a way out.

we were cross posting ,

What you do seems important for you, and 29 along with what i said in my other post, says, don't lose your courage. There is no " progress report" at that reading , at least explicitly. Maybe its an answer how to go through this 29 time .

sooo · Mar 15, 2014

silent octavius said:
Pocossin: Getting ready for death is something that I've been slowly, but surely preparing for.

Getting ready for death is easy. Getting ready for life is more challenging, especially as you grow older.

I think the Yi's answer was exquisite like fine wine.

You're trying too hard. Does a flower try to blossom? If it did it would use up all its chi in the effort. "Behold the lilies of the field: they neither toil nor spin, yet not even Solomon in all his glory aren't arrayed as one of these."

I asked because I'm at point where I'm unsure if I'm making any progress whatsoever. Everything is confusion and delusion. In other words I'm lost. No amount of meditation, devotion or whatnot seems to be pointing to a way out.

Relax. Life knows what it's doing. Even our body contains the wisdom it requires. An infant doesn't have to be taught what to do after birth. Simply lay him or her upon the mother and body wisdom does what it's born to do. Is this not a great work? It is enough to be here now. I mean really be here.

...life can be translucent

Progress In The Great Work

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