Hello all!

I haven't posted on this site for a while but i have been an avid consulter of the Yi for a fair while now. I thank you all, especially you regulars, for your insight into each other's readings. I am always using the search for lines in hexagrams function to see if anyone has had a similar reading to mine!

Anyhoo I was hoping for some thoughts on a reading i did a few days ago. I have recently been getting a little worked up over the fact that I still have no idea what career path I want to take (I am 23). I am still at university studying a generalist sort of degree in humanities (majoring in foreign languages) but I am really starting to crave some direction. I want to know how I am going to be supporting myself in the years to come.

I have been trying to attack the problem by reviewing the results of some peronailty tests I did a few years ago and by investigating careers i had previously overlooked because of a dry sounding name (basically anything sound too manager/supervisor/coordinator-y, anything with one of the 'new' job titles etc.) and also by investigating new ones i didn't know existed.

This whole process had left me even more disenfranchised than before i started and I have begun to doubt my self worth, including with regards to my relationship. I made this reading when I was trying to figure out what it was that I have that no-one else does. What my greatest strength is i guess. I guess at the end of the day I was just looking for some encouragement.

Anyway, I asked 'What is unique about me?' and got 55.1.5 -> 31

While i understand the lines, i am finding it difficult to figure out who is who or what is what...

any help would be greatly appreciated!

muchos besos!
unusual_noises

Anyway, I asked 'What is unique about me?' and got 55.1.5 -> 31

Very strange question.

Anyway, the lines suggest nothing unique about you at all but they do suggest that you go see someone who can help you decide on a career choice to go for, you really need to see a career counselor.

willowfox said:

Anyway, I asked 'What is unique about me?' and got 55.1.5 -> 31

Very strange question.

Anyway, the lines suggest nothing unique about you at all but they do suggest that you go see someone who can help you decide on a career choice to go for, you really need to see a career counselor.

Click to expand...

I guess we are all unique in our own crazy way.

Topal

unusual_noises said:

Anyhoo I was hoping for some thoughts on a reading i did a few days ago. I have recently been getting a little worked up over the fact that I still have no idea what career path I want to take (I am 23). I am still at university studying a generalist sort of degree in humanities (majoring in foreign languages) but I am really starting to crave some direction. I want to know how I am going to be supporting myself in the years to come.

I have been trying to attack the problem by reviewing the results of some peronailty tests I did a few years ago and by investigating careers i had previously overlooked because of a dry sounding name (basically anything sound too manager/supervisor/coordinator-y, anything with one of the 'new' job titles etc.) and also by investigating new ones i didn't know existed.

This whole process had left me even more disenfranchised than before i started and I have begun to doubt my self worth, including with regards to my relationship. I made this reading when I was trying to figure out what it was that I have that no-one else does. What my greatest strength is i guess. I guess at the end of the day I was just looking for some encouragement.

Anyway, I asked 'What is unique about me?' and got 55.1.5 -> 31

While i understand the lines, i am finding it difficult to figure out who is who or what is what...

any help would be greatly appreciated!

muchos besos!
unusual_noises

Click to expand...

Well your name is certainly unique But seriously though my take on your reading, and this is pretty much off the cuff, is that you are presented with a multitude of posssibilities at the moment (hex 55) and you have to make some kind of choice at least for now. So i guess that reflects your question - how are you supposed to make that choice ? The relating hexagram is 31 and strangley i always find 31 is as much about repulsion as attraction - knowing what you don't want is often more obvious than knowing what you do want. But somewhere here i think 31 asks you to listen to your inclinations also remaining fairly open to approaches of things you haven't considered, but still your feelings of attraction/repulsion are a good guide and probably better than any personality test.

I think if you follow your feelings, where your attracton takes you, following feelings of interest even if you don't know exactly why you will probably then find circumstances sweep you along in the right direction, towards the right connections (55.5). I think with 55.5 guidance, or an indication of the way to go does become clear - and with you i think it may become clearer by following your impulses. 55.1 I think cautions against wanting to make anything too long term - it gives me the image of someone finding a great placement etc for a limited time but which serves them very well for their future also.

I've probably said this before but with career questions I always think the Yi answers in terms of your whole life. Society likes to define people by what they do but I think the Yi carries on seeing you.

I think it's a great question

What's unique about you? Abundance, Influence. A concentration of responsibilities and resources, the will to take these on and move forward, and an openness to influence and willingness to be moved. Maybe... what's unique is your readiness to make the connection between these two, paying attention to what moves you and being ready to make that your work in life. So you stand at that decision point Trojan was describing, and you actually turn it into an open space, and invite in whatever calls you and whatever feels complementary.

...which makes it vanishingly unlikely you'll find The One Right Career For Life. (Or would have any use for such a thing.)

As for identifying who's who - you can read the story behind hexagram 55 here, thanks to LiSe, and imagine the feelings of Wu, thrust into the decision-making position.

As I don't read the judgement of Hex 55 and only read the lines then I do not see the uniqueness of abundance or greatness shown here about this person. The only thing unique here is that the querent is lost and needs guidance in order to achieve some level of success in their life, they are sorely needing some guidance. They have managed to uniquely drift through college with no idea as to what occupation suits them if any, they could well be doing the wrong courses that will not serve them in the pursuit of a steady career, so they are unique in that they can't make up their minds what they would really like to do with their degrees and there seems to be a glut of translators in the job market. Uniquely vague perhaps?

I think it's a mistake not to read the Judgement - sort of like going to the 'you are here' sign on the map without checking what place the map actually represents. Maybe we could start another thread about that?

Anyway, I can promise you that going through college without knowing what career you want afterwards isn't unique - not among language students, anyway . I don't know what most of my fellow language students were planning on - the subject never really came up - but I know of one high-flying business owner, one health food shop worker, one doing very well at a publishing company, one futures trader, and one professional oboist. (OK, she did have plans - and music colleges falling over themselves to offer her scholarships, and so on.) No translators.

I can see why 55.1 could suggest 'see a career counsellor'. It might also be someone to work with. In general terms it's a useful alliance - someone who helps or guides, within limits, and on the assumption that you'll be moving on in due course. It seems like practical advice on implementing hexagram 31, actually creating a relationship within which you can be moved and influenced in useful ways.

I think line 5 makes it clear unusual_noises does have something uniquely valuable to offer. Something beautiful is coming here, bringing reward and praise. As for what it is... the word means something created, maybe a form of government, a rule or example, maybe a distinct composition such as a chapter or a song. (It's a pretty versatile word.) The related lines suggest a connection to leadership. But it feels way too early to try to pin it down. Line 1 first.

My first thought was that the yi was telling you that you have an unusual abundance of hex. 31, or Influence. Try looking at different translations or a glossary (like in Brad's at hermetica.info) to get a broader idea of the meaning of your relating hexagram.

Hi U.F.

Here is how I interpret the lines.

55 is the height of civilization. You would do well to pursue a big company, a government job, or an organization that has very widespread influence, or cultural significance. You are uniquely equipped to do well in this type of environment. Why? Lines 1 and 5 show the way.

55.1 shows a person who has a contribution to make, and a leader who welcomes that contribution. They don't know if they will have a long term working relationship. However, whatever time they have together, it will be mutually beneficial.

Get a mentor and keep in touch, even if you wind up moving on to other jobs in the organization, or elsewhere.

55.5 shows a ruler who is smart enough to assemble an advisory council. You need to be part of that advisory team, one of the consultants who can make suggestions.

Your role now should be team member. Someone else with more experience will take the best of your opinions, combine them with the best opinions of others, and make a good decision for the organization.

Don't worry if you don't get a position of power right away. Focus on getting a boss who is a wise, effective decision maker. And if the organization offers workshops like Franklin Covey or career planning sessions, take them!

If you use your strengths, you will wind up being an influential person (31). Will you be like the mountain - the authority - or will you be like the lake - the advisor to the throne? Too early to tell. But you will be in the throne room for sure.

By the way, here are some good career planning books:
"First, Break All The Rules" - "Now, Discover Your Strengths" - "StrengthsFinder" (a series) - Buckingham
"The Pathfinder" - Lore
"What Color Is Your Parachute?" - Bolles

And for self-discovery:
"Personality Types" - Riso, Hudson
"Neurosis and Human Growth" - Horney