Hi guys. Just thought I'd present another question to ye all. You helped me greatly before, so I thought I'd approach again.

After asking about a trip I plan to take soon to visit a close friend of mine, I got hex 19. I'm sure that means the trip is going to go pretty well, but I was wonder what it meant by misfortune in the 8th month. Is there some kind of symbolic signifigance with this, or is it more literal? Considering that I'm thinking of taking the trip in either July or August, I thought it would be best to know for sure.

Again, thanks in advance.


Saar

Saar, if you look under the old 'divination discussion' threads there is one called '19 contradiction' where this question has been discussed in some depth. Still can't do links else I'd give you one.

My father is very sick, he had a stroke 6 weeks ago,
I asked when will he pass over, I read the answer it said in the 8th month, #19 I am guessing it will happen in August
How can I ask a question to see if I am with my Dad when he dies,

Carolyn

Just a note of caution, dont take Yi's time intervals literally. We are not fortune tellers, nor is the Yi, and if nothing else, this can create unwanted expectatives or anxiety which cannot do any good. The Yi mentions yearly periods which are related to the trigram sequences, but they are not literal dates we can rely on, much less because our calendar has nothing to do with the chinese. Also there are mentions of specific periods, for instance three days (a short period), 3 years (a long period), 10 years (a complete cycle), which again cannot be taken literally. For instance, ten years can be anything from a week to indeed ten years... it depends on how long a complete cycle takes, for the specific question.

As for your last question, although I wouldnt ask it myself, nor do I advise that you do (I prefer sometimes not to know, in order not to limit my views because of aquired prejudice of a wrong interpretation or a wrong answer, but who am I to know what's best for you), why dont you ask what youve just said. It cannot simply answer yes or no, but I suspect the Yi will show you that you will always be with him, no matter how far appart physically

I also remembered another thing, hexagram 19 means to become great. The two lines are raising, becoming great, which indeed is a good thing. In the context of your father's stroke, this could mean a recovery, although I dont want to give you false hopes (I really dont know, or can tell).

What the point of the comment on the 8th month is, is that by the cyclic nature of events, we know beforehand that after the two lines reach the top (becoming #20, indeed great, a role model for society), there's no where they can continue to raise, and so a decline must follow. This is not a bad omen, its the Yi's way of seeing the world (a good way, I must add), and this same principle is expressed in all hexagrams, more or less explicitly. Its not a promise of bad times, but a note of caution that when things are growing, we should aleady realise that eventually they will decline, and not let our judgement be disturbed by this fact. Or else we lose the purpose of becoming great in the first place

In hexagram 19 there seems to be a tendency to
go forward in many different directions.
Soon or later it will be necessary to choose.
I think this it what the warning relating to
the eight month is about: without a choice (soon
or later) nothing tangible will come of it.

Martin