36.6, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?

[thisismybody]

Hello ICC,

Happy Day After Easter!

I received this to a question today and immediately understood what it meant. After doing some research through the threads, I got to thinking about how this line sounds very much like Jesus' experience during the last night before his crucifixion. It was where Judas betrayed him with a kiss.

Here's an account of that night from gotquestions.org:

As the evening began, after Jesus and His disciples had celebrated the Passover, they came to the garden. At some point, Jesus took three of them—Peter, James and John— to a place separated from the rest. Here Jesus asked them to watch with Him and pray so they would not fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41), but they fell asleep. Twice, Jesus had to wake them and remind them to pray so that they would not fall into temptation. This was especially poignant because Peter did indeed fall into temptation later that very night when three times he denied even knowing Jesus. Jesus moved a little way from the three men to pray, and twice He asked His Father to remove the cup of wrath He was about to drink, but each time He submitted to the Father’s will. He was “exceedingly sorrowful unto death,” but God sent an angel from heaven to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43).

After this, Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, arrived with a “multitude” of soldiers, high priests, Pharisees, and servants to arrest Jesus. Judas identified Him by the prearranged signal of a kiss which he gave to Jesus. Trying to protect Jesus, Peter took a sword and attacked a man named Malchus, the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus rebuked Peter and miraculously healed the man’s ear. It’s surprising that witnessing this amazing miracle of healing had no effect on the multitude. Neither were they shaken by His awesome display of power as described in John 18:5-6, where either at the majesty of His looks, or at the power of His words, or both, they became like dead men, falling to the ground. Nevertheless, they arrested Him and took Him to Pontius Pilate, while the disciples scattered in fear for their lives.

The events that occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane have reverberated down through the centuries. The passion Jesus displayed on that momentous night has been depicted in music, books, and films for centuries. From the 16th century, when Bach wrote two magnificent oratorios based on the gospel accounts of Matthew and John, to the present day with the film The Passion of the Christ, the story of this extraordinary night has been told again and again. Even our language has been affected by these events, giving us such phrases as “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword” (Matthew 26:52); “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38); and “sweating drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). Of course, the most important impact of this night was the willingness of our Savior to die on the cross in our place in order to pay the penalty for our sins. God “made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hexagram 36. - Dark Night of the Soul

36.6 - darkness reaches its height when Jesus is crucified. He dies and 3 days later rises from his tomb to ascend to heaven. His act of selflessness redeems mankind from "sin." Christ consciousness now becomes part of the earth's energetic grid, making it possible, as in the hundredth monkey theory, for others to reenact similar acts of grace, forgiveness, and compassion.

Darkness had to reach its zenith in order for it to fall and for Christ's sacrifice to free the human soul through salvation. Light wins in the end!

This is an archetypal journey. It has a profound effect on the human psyche. It exists within everyone one of us in some capacity, as the Holy Spirit, in every culture, despite name changes.

Anything else? :bows:

 

[Trojina]

Interesting connection

 

[loverofknowledge]

Interesting -- how does hexagram 22 (the relating hexagram) work with this theory?

 

[Trojina]

Copying what I wrote in WikiWing of 36.6 and how it might connect to fan yao 22.6 I feel it ties in quite well with heights of spiritual experience contrasted with the very lowest of earthly experience. Quoting myself out of laziness ....so I don't have to write it again

Several experiences have shown me this line will often bring to my attention a
stark juxtaposition between heightened states of consciousness as in meditation
and healing and down on the ground banality, conflict, darkness and grit of human
interactions and experience. It could be that these are not really such separate
states at all, one is the flip side of the other, both are in a sense appearances,
Hence this line changes to hexagram 22. The fan yao, 22.6, is gone beyond
appearances. The inner sensation that our 'higher self' and 'lower self' are
very different beings is often sharply delineated. A sudden switch from one to
the other can give the sense of the puncturing of an image of self. Trojina

 

[loverofknowledge]

That is very interesting, too, regarding hexagram 22.6. Does the same changing line of the relating hexagram often apply, as in 36.6 and 22.6 ?

 

[Trojina]

The same line in the relating hexagram is called the fan yao, a term Bradford Hatcher came up with. It was never meant to be used as part of the answer but what it can be is a useful mirror image of the answer. Sometimes considering the fan yao can help one get a perspective on the line in question. Hilary has observed that people very often identify with the fan yao in their readings, it describes how they feel. I've not noticed this so much, I tend to just sometimes use it as a mirror image to the line received, what the line is not so to speak. So 22.6 and 36.6 might be reverse images of each other, throw light on each other.

 

[thisismybody]

"Here a man of dark nature is in a position of authority..."

"and brings harm to the wise and able man" (W/B)

This renders a perfect image of the symbolism between the spiritual and material:

stark juxtaposition between heightened states of consciousness as in meditation and healing and down on the ground banality, conflict, darkness and grit of human
interactions and experience. It could be that these are not really such separate
states at all, one is the flip side of the other, both are in a sense appearances,

The idea that God was able to descend to earth through human flesh in the incarnation of Jesus and, as Jesus, man could ascend through human flesh to God depicts this yin/yang coin. Not wholly different nor separate. Just different sides of the same coin, as you stated Trojan. The cross then becomes an intermediary or vehicle to assist that "cross-over." Talk about a lot of rich symbolism! As a symbol, the cross represents the bridge between the human world and the divine. (I want to add more to this but must move from my phone to my computer later.)

In the Garden and throughout his crucifixion, we see the height of darkness, the grit of human interaction and experience--through the presence of satan and Jesus' temptation to abandon his Tao, his destiny, as well as the ruthlessness of those persecuting Jesus. To me, the whole episode can be dissected to find 36.6 imagery and imagery inherent in the hexagram throughout the lines.

I see 22.6 as an example or definition of the soul: pure, untainted, unadulterated, without adornment because it has no need. It's as splendid as God. I also see the fan Yao as a mirror. The image is fitting. (Hilary and liSe write about adornment or ornament being a way to capture a thing's essence.)

Here at the highest stage of development all ornament is discarded. Form no longer conceals content but brings out its value to the full. Perfect grace consists not in exterior ornamentation of the substance, but in the simple fitness of its form. (W/B)

Jesus' body up on the cross as an ornament. "All ornament is discarded. Form no longer conceals content but brings out its value to the full": Jesus commends his own spirit to his Father. "Perfect grace" as this ascension. Without "exterior ornamentation of the substance," his soul ascends, as a dove--a pure, white, winged creature (very 22.6). The soul as "the simple fitness of its [the body's] form."

I see the body as ornamentation of the soul. It is the body that resides in the soul, or is a representation of the soul, not the other way around. Very 22. Jesus's act was ornamentation of something far more powerful than Jews and Romans killing one man. He says, and I say this loosely, no man has power to kill me. Only he has the power to give up his life. His crucifixion was an "ornament" of his mission to redeem man. (I mean, think about it--all-powerful, omnipresent God has the ability to do anything, including saving man's soul. But instead he sends his "only begotten son" into the flesh.)

On earth, in this dimension, it seems necessary, even required, that material acts occur to reveal the simple spiritual form of a thing in order to re-define the material and human experience. This is what makes ritual so powerful. Think, what exists in another plane is revealed in a different way in earthly senses and vice versa? As I stated before, it occurs in order to be included in the earth's grid so that those who incarnate here are able to tap into a particular essence or experience. Which again is very 22. I'm really starting to think 22 is very much about essence and ornamenation or adornment. I'm gathering that our acts serve as ornaments to the essence of a thing. Thus why Jesus actually had to sacrifice his life to save souls. With that act, he conquers the flesh (and the weaknesses of the flesh) by sacrificing it--a mere ornament of his essence. His "kingdom" is not of this world. Interestingly, we use ornaments as a tradition on his supposed birthday. (Thank you Pagans!) I think we can delve deeper into the human experience, the material, and the earth being like recording devices. Very Rupert Sheldrake, which I've been connecting with in other hexes.

Applying this to everyday life isn't hard. When we receive hexagram 36, we're often experiencing some kind of persecution and must hide our "light." But by 36.6, those who persecute us don't have that power, even if--in their "clouded perception"--they still believe they do. We have the ability to safeguard our power and light. People will speak against us (36.1) and we will be wounded (36.1, 36.2, 36.4), but not forever... At 36.6 we see a complete turn of events. No longer is light hidden within the earth--it is now darkness that descends. Maybe like Satan being bound for 1000 years?? From Revelations:

20 "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while" (biblegateway.org)

Like the Yi, the Bible works in cycles. Eventually, all things come full circle.

Let me just add that at 36.6, after Jesus accomplishes his Tao and redeems humanity from sin (darkness), he returns home to his, 37, family. :bows: