It's my birthday. I asked what was important for me to know for the coming year.

The question was obviously very general, but I not sure what to make of the answer: 60.1,5 -> 7. I'm still puzzling over it. Maybe it'll make more sense after I've slept on it.

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate hearing them!

I think the answer is pretty clear. You will experience some limitations. These limitations appear to be for the best though.

I personally lean toward the view that the lines are not as important as the hexagram. I think the IC gives usa very broad overview of a situation and that it's hard to get down to a level where you have a lot of detail about a situation. So, I would say that it's important for you to know that the coming year will bring some sort of limitations for you.

Happy Birthday Andrea!

I wonder if hexagram 60 is advising you that knowing how to BUDGET your time and energy will be important this year? Hexagram 7.The Army, suggests some MAJOR UNDERTAKINGS coming up and you may need to have your resources in good order.

I got this same reading a while back when I was just asking the I Ching for a reading for the day. As it turned out, a neighbor needed me to go to the animal hospital the next town over to pick up emergency supplies for her goats. I had to put together money, a map, a car and a driver and get back before the goat died. It was a MAJOR UNDERTAKING and fortunately an earlier plan hadn't come together and so I was home (60.1) that morning and available. The downside was when we got back the neighbor thanked us with a gallon of home made ice cream. My husband can eat without limits, but I think I would have felt better if I'd shown a little self restraint (60.5).

If there is any parallel here I would say if some plans don't materialize, go with the flow, it may be that your time will be needed else where and you may be called upon to participate in a larger community project. And enjoy your cake but maybe not all at once!

Rosada

Look, this isn't personal, but I'm gonna take sides on this one, cuz there's a really important point to be made with the Yi.

I'm leaning towards Rosada's take on this, and I think she got it more correct for one reason only - her take suggests that the Yi is telling Andrea how to handle the upcoming year, whereas Exnihilo's take is much more fatalistic, telling Andrea how this year *will* turn out.

So, okay, I'm inviting input and opinion on what I've said: how much or how often does the Yi portray what *will* happen when you ask about the future, and how much does it outline what you would be well advised to do in terms of handling what happens in the future? I've got a really open mind about this, despite my siding with Rosada on this one, cuz I can see value in both ways. But I want to know what you think.

"So, okay, I'm inviting input and opinion on what I've said: how much or how often does the Yi portray what *will* happen when you ask about the future, and how much does it outline what you would be well advised to do in terms of handling what happens in the future?"

It depends on the question asked. Sometimes it's about something I need to know NOW....and sometimes, as in this case, it's about something I need to know about in the future. That's probably as clear as mud. Here's an example,

1) I asked what I need to know about my sick tooth, a victim of a botched root canal. I got 33 unchanging. In the end, the tooth didn't need to be pulled but I think the Yi was telling me that something was seriously wrong with the tooth AT THAT TIME...which was entirely true. (Now, after the second root canal I asked again about the tooth: 14 to 55. I like it! "A big wagon for loading" I can finally eat on that side again. ) What I'm trying to say is that I didn't necessarily see the 33 as a prediction of the future, that I would lose my tooth. I read it as a statement about the present because that it what I asked about. The Yi said, "Your tooth is very sick".

2) I once asked, "What do I need to know about the next 3 months" and I got 60 unchanging. The question was about my short-term future and I interpreted the Yi's response with that in mind. In other words, I interpreted that to mean that the Yi was telling that I would experience some sort of limitations within the following 3 months. Did I experience limitations? Yes. It wasn't anything too horrible but they were indeed there.

Another thing,

I almost never ask the Yi what I should do about a particular issue. I ask questions trying to get a general idea about what's going on and then I use my mind in order to decide on a course of action.

So, the poster asked about the coming year and received hexagram 60. Since the question was about the future I interpreted the response to be about just that, the future. Get ready for some limitations.

Although it's always nice to feel that one's words are understood, I don't like feeling we're in competition with each other here. PlusI I learn best by hearing lots of different viewpoints.

Personally, my irritation is posters who use the space to just spout their own opinions with no referance to the words of the I Ching. If a writer can contribute to my understanding of a hexagram, I get value from what they say - it doesn't matter if their answer is "right". (Who but God could say?)

Plus, just as different books give different interpretations, my own interpretations change too. As I look again at 60.1.5 -7 I get a totally different interpretation than what I saw yesterday. Right now it looks to me as a warning that gas prices are going to go up, LIMITING / TRAVEL..

So anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence Dobro.
Exni, I like the way you think.

Exnihilo -

You answered my question with this: "It depends on the question asked. Sometimes it's about something I need to know NOW....and sometimes, as in this case, it's about something I need to know about in the future."

But that doesn't really answer my question. See, the question still stands whether the Yi is talking about the present or the future. If the Yi is talking about the present, I still need to know whether it's a picture of the way things are, or a picture of how I should be dealing with it. Ditto the future. Actually, I think the Yi provides both, and I think that anybody who plumps for either the purely descriptive or purely prescriptive approach is shortchanging themselves. I like to use a maritime symbol for the Yi. The Yi reminds me of sonar - it gives me information about the situation that my immediate senses don't give me. But (and this is a very important 'but') the Yi also gives indications of useful ways to deal with that situation. It's as if your vessel had a sonar unit that not only showed you what was going on deep beneath the surface of the water, but also made some very appropriate recommendations about how to sail the ship as well! Magic!)

So that's why, when you said to Andrea: "You will experience some limitations," I thought it was telling Andrea only half of what the Yi was actually saying. My take on it would have been something like: "Your upcoming year will be characterized by the theme of periodic limits - this is both what will be happening *and* what you need to do. Exercising the discipline of right measure and interval is what the upcoming year will require of you."

See, that way it's not fatalistic; that way it's not just the hand of God dishing out our fate; that way we co-create with the flow of the universe. I think it's a better way to view things and deal with things. And I think that's true whether your Yi consultation focusses on the present or the future.

Dobro,

"The Yi reminds me of sonar - it gives me information about the situation that my immediate senses don't give me."

I agree. This is also how I see the Yi. Sometimes the Yi gives me entirely new and unexpected information, and sometimes it confirms my suspicions about something. I personally like it when the Yi confirms for me what I already know. I like that "Yep. I knew it" feeling.

"But (and this is a very important 'but') the Yi also gives indications of useful ways to deal with that situation."

I see it this way: The Yi, by giving me information, offers me a way to make better decisions etc.

"My take on it would have been something like: "Your upcoming year will be characterized by the theme of periodic limits - this is both what will be happening *and* what you need to do. Exercising the discipline of right measure and interval is what the upcoming year will require of you."

I think most responses imply how someone needs to respond. My style is to explain the meaning of the hexagram, the lines etc. and let the other person decide what that might imply as far as what actions/non-actions etc. to take. I don't think our views are that far apart. Perhaps I sounded more fatalistic than I am

Hi Andrea

Just in case the comment could be useful

A mayor issue this year would be the definition of rules to put order in your life. Specially from March 16 to July 31.

Unlimited options lead life to vanished in the mist; so one need to order it's own priorities.

What is the place of Labor, Love, Housing, Soul, Relatives.... in your life?; what is the place you chose for those aspects of your life?

Chosing your priorities (60), those aspects are not anymore a "mass" but an order "army" (every aspect in it's propper place and rol).

Best wishes

Many thanks for your ideas, everyone.

I asked "what do I need to know?" That was neither "what will happen" nor "how should I handle it". I guess it would have made more sense to ask a more specific question. I'm learning!

Exnihilo, Rosada, Dobro -- I don't think your approaches are that far apart; they make sense to me without contradiction. And Jesed, thanks as always for your very practical and specific suggestions. I really appreciate all of your help.

"I asked "what do I need to know?" That was neither "what will happen" nor "how should I handle it". I guess it would have made more sense to ask a more specific question. I'm learning!"

You have to keep in mind the question you asked when you interpret the answer and even then sometimes it's hard when you have one of "those" questions. For example, I once asked what was someone's opinion of me and received 62.4:

"No blame. He meets him without passing by.
Going brings danger. One must be on guard.
Do not act. Be constantly persevering."

I kind of freaked out when I read that because I immediately interpreted this as an answer to how the person felt about me, that he was afraid of me. Then, out of fright I think, I had to ask, "Does John think I might be dangerous?" The answer was 48 to 31 which I read as a definite "No". I then realized that the Yi was telling me that John thought I was an extremely cautious person. That was his opinion of me. So yeah, you have to be careful with the question.