37.4 > 13 or another take on "clans"

[emc2cme]

Hi. Just thought I'd share a reading I got tonight, and perhaps some of you would care to comment. To me, this is yet another case of the Yi being so accurate that it's almost frightening.

Tonight (at the request of a state representative and two board members) I gave a brief presentation to our local schoolboard, sharing some concerns and reflections that have been acquired over thirty years of teaching, as well as my own experience as a student (to master's level), parent and now grandparent--mostly, they had to do with the fact that everyone gets something out of the traditional educational process except the children. The "educators" get a paycheck. The parents get a free babysitter, the schoolboard members get the prestige of making "important" educational decisions, etc., etc. Only the children are caught inside four walls for thirteen of the most formative years of their lives--years which should be spent learning, exploring, making sense of patterns, learning their own strengths (and weaknesses, and how to get past them).

The presentation went well, but afterward, I found myself feeling very sad. This is unusual for me, and hasn't happened for a very long time. So I asked the Yi why I was feeling this way. I got 37.4 changing to 13. At first, this made no sense to me. I'm very much an introvert, and don't spend a lot of time within the community anyway. I read several versions of these hexagrams, but nothing rang a bell. Then I read Confucius' etymology of 37, and this jumped out:

"...In accord with the many: of the sixty-four situations depicted in the context of the Yi Jing, only two are named in reference to the human being: Tong Ren.13 (accord with the many) and Jia Ren.37 (clansmen), each proposing a particular pole of human relationship..."

Also, a portion of LiSe's online interpretation of 13:

"...The image says:
Heaven associating with fire: union of people
The noble one classifies the clans and reads the trails of creatures..."

All of a sudden, in a way that the Yi sometimes does, things became sickeningly clear: the Clan was highlighted in each hexagram.

When we first moved to this little town, we weren't to know that this was the four-state center of the Ku Klux Klan. They've done everything in their power to make our lives miserable. My husband is from Afghanistan and was a director of the Kabul Museum and a nationally known sculptor (until the Russians killed his father), I am part Native American and look it, and my children take after us both. At the time we moved here, there was no one who looked like us at all. They've threatened to burn a cross on our lawn, burn our house, burn us, cut off our heads, kill us. Once (after 9/11) six men beat up my husband so badly that they broke his jaw and clavicle, and he was hospitalized for four days (then the police "lost" the report). Their children called my children ugly names. That nonsense passed years ago, and I thought I'd forgotten it.

I think that the sadness I was feeling came from their remarkable lack of interest in doing anything to change the status quo--in other words, their "clannishnes"--as well as being the kind of community that would support the KKK in their midst. They think they've got it made, and don't like anyone to upset their little apple carts. They think that their children are so well-adjusted, so happy. If only they knew of some of the stories my own children told about their nasty behavior, and later on, their drunkenness, their drug-use and promiscuity...

Am I reading something into these two hexagrams that isn't there? Has anyone else had a similar experience? I'd be glad to have your input.

Nancy

 

[willowfox]

Hex 37.4 > 13

This says that you should have nothing to be sad about, you have an important position being a teacher to these children, they depend upon you, so you have to be there for them. You are there for the greater good, you have to be a leader and show the way, so you must have faith and strength to achieve the results that you deem necessary for the good of the children, so forget about your private concerns and see the bigger picture which is about educating these children in the hope that they will turn out to be better citizens than their parents were. Therefore, do not be despondent, people are depending upon you.

 

[luz]

I think it's a very interesting reading. As an answer to your question, "why do i feel sad?", I think it means it's a bittersweet sadness. Here you are, in a position to influence the school board (or to at least have a shot at it, anyway), which is a relatively 'powerful' position (the treasure of the house) amidst these people who 'can not attack' (the fan yao). And yet, it's still in the back of your mind, the racism, the horrible incident with your husband. You know you can not feel fully comfortable in this community. That's why you felt momentarily sad.

That being said, what WF says sounds also right. No need to be sad.

Wish you the best.

 

[emc2cme]

Willowfox and Lightangel

Are you guys sure that you don't moonlight as psychologists? When I first read the Yi's answer, I never would have seen that your interpretation in a million years. But after re-reading your posts, and 37.4 > 13, I can see exactly what you mean. You are compassionate and wise, and give me the courage and inspiration I need to keep on sweeping my little corner of the world.

Thanks, and may you be repaid many times for your kindness.

Nancy

 

[mudpie]

"the fact that everyone gets something out of the traditional educational process except the children. The "educators" get a paycheck. The parents get a free babysitter, the schoolboard members get the prestige of making "important" educational decisions, etc., etc. Only the children are caught inside four walls for thirteen of the most formative years of their lives--years which should be spent learning, exploring, making sense of patterns, learning their own strengths (and weaknesses, and how to get past them). "

Well said. and unfortunately it isnt only in your community that there is apathy...or maybe learned helplessness. I live in a very diverse and culturally sophisticated community, but even here, the idea of needing to change the status quo of the educational system is met with blank stares. I think the task just seems overwhelming because it isnt a small change that is needed but a re-vamping of it all. so antiquated.
nevertheless, the message you impart is at the heart of what is needed, and you are advocating like a mom for all the kids who gag on school secretly, but resign themselves to it because there is no alternative.

 

[hollis]

Your answer is a signal to the fact that the Yi acts as more than a mirror, as the answer is reflective of a greater value than your community is capable of. This answer is so loving, in tone, 'she is the treasure of the house', - don't you be sad, your work is important to the whole community.

 

[auriel]

How often is real beauty isolated, allowed a little show and tell, and robbed of its real transformative power?
hey Nancy- Thanks for this deep look at a change in progress; write more posts; &fight the good fight, dont get stuck in no box

 

[emc2cme]

Listener, Hollis and Auriel

Listener,

You are very perceptive, I think, about even diverse and sophisticated communities disregarding the need for change in our educational paradigm. I can't claim to have any original thoughts on this; my experience, coupled with the ideas of someone braver than me, John Taylor Gatto (who wrote The Underground History of American Education) just tipped the matter over in my mind. I think our economy dictates that we have two working adults in the home, now, and children are considered to be in "safe" hands at school. If someone attempted to kidnap my child and hurt him/her, there'd be no question in my mind that I'd kill them. But the analogy of frogs submitting to being boiled alive, if you put them in cool water and only gradually raise the flame, is very apt for the degree to which we submit ourselves and our children to this "acquired conditioning". Thanks for your kind and thoughtful words.

Hollis,

Thanks so much for turning this around, maybe like a jewel in the moonlight. Sometimes I don't get something until it's pointed out to me. The I Ching works on so many levels.

Auriel,

Your talk of "real beauty" and "show and tell" reminds me of just how often I pass beauty by myself. It almost made me wince to hear you talk of it being robbed of its transformative power when we treat it like that--I'm going to think a long time on what you said.

Thanks to all three of you, and to Willowfox and Lightangel before you. I've never been much of a joiner, but I'm beginning to see the advantages of putting a question out there, to be remarked upon, shared, thought about and discussed. Even hollered about, if need be...

Nancy