One of the meanings of Hexagram 4, Not Knowing, is being ‘covered over’, like a young animal whose mother hides it in the undergrowth. This means you can’t see as far as you’d like to, something which people tend to find frustrating – and yet the image of the young creature in the undergrowth, to say nothing of the sheltering mountain above the stream, implies that this ignorance is somehow protective.
As a child of the Enlightenment (the 18th century Western one, I mean), I find it very hard to wrap my mind round the idea of being kept in the dark for my own good. This (amongst other things) makes me glad of Mark Silver, who’s written a blog post about how to receive guidance. He’s writing about business decisions specifically, and may not know that he’s also writing about Hexagram 4 (see the part about the ‘divine fence’) and providing good food for thought for anyone who’s ever consulted an oracle. I especially like his suggestion for a change of question – from ‘What to do about this?’ to ‘What would a healthy relationship with this look like?’
I wander what’s the matter with my comments in this blog…
I had no idea I was writing about Hexagram 4. I love that! Somehow, no matter how hard we try, we can’t help being a channel for the Divine… even in ignorance.
I think writing about hexagrams without knowing you’re doing it is a very good sign 🙂
Emanuele – if you’ve been having problems, you can always email me.