43.4>5 and 47.5>40 for job prospects

[loulisnowdrop]

I am due to finish a training course in the summer and upon completion, I must find employment.

At the moment, I am in paid employed by my trainers as a student but they cannot guarantee paid employment for me at the end of my course. Because of this, I have been sending off applications to various other places. Now my trainers have advertised a job nationally and I have applied but I know there are others who have also applied (2 of which are also students at the same place as me).

I cannot afford to be out of work and ideally I would love to get the job at my current place but I asked 'what will my job search bring?' and I received 43.4>5

43 sounds to me like a description of applying for jobs, and the resulting 5 sounds like waiting for good results rather than being proactive to get them. Line 4 sounds quite uncomfortable though and worries me. I'm struggling to get an answer from this sequence other than a slightly negative vibe.

I then asked 'What is my position (long term) at my current place?' and got 47.5>40. Is my current place 'my garden' I wonder but if it is then line 5 is suggesting that I need to be free of it.

Do you helpful people have any insight that could help me with these readings? I'm feeling that I'm too focussed on wanting to stay where I am but also worrying about the possibility of being unemployed so casting a wider net. All of this is clouding my overview of the situation and I keep looking at small aspects of this rather than looking at the big picture.

 

[mirian]

Dear loulisnowdrop,

"what will my job search bring?' and I received 43.4>5"

I don't see this as a prediction. I believe this reading is telling you to worry less and focus on working and learning. Carry on improving your skills, expanding your knowledge, listening to others both in terms of advice and what they can teach with. Trust and faith are involved here.

'What is my position (long term) at my current place?' and got 47.5>40"

Some sort of authority will help you, eventually. Someone in a higher position, either in the company or out there, somewhere However, this is not going to happen as fast as you would like it. Be patient.

Hope that helps :bows:

 

[loulisnowdrop]

Thanks for your reply Mirian.
I'm trying to stop worrying and just concentrating on being the best I can be. After all, worrying is a bit of a useless way to spend time and not very productive. I'm keeping my head up and working hard.
I'll update with any developments

 

[Liselle]

...the resulting 5 sounds like waiting for good results rather than being proactive to get them.

Actually, that's probably not the case (unfortunately - it would be much nicer if it were). Hex 5 means Waiting - but alert and attentive waiting. The text of the Oracle, from Hilary's book, says:

"Waiting, with truth and confidence.
Shining out, creating success: constancy brings good fortune.
Fruitful to cross the great river."​

I think truth here means something like sincerity, making sincere and confident efforts (as Mirian said, "trust and faith are involved here.") You have to "shine out," "create success," and have "constancy" (perseverence). Hilary's commentary says, "This is not a passive state..."

But, of course, you did not receive hex 5 by itself. Hex 5 was the relating hexagram - how you relate to the situation. So look at the hex 5 oracle more as the backdrop to the situation than the answer.

The line you received, 43.4, takes the "attentive waiting" spirit of hex 5 and makes it quite painful. Again from Hilary's book:

"Thighs without flesh,
Moving awkwardly now."​

How do one's thighs become "without flesh"? Through really hard work. Unfortunately, it does not sound as if this will fall easily into place - or, at least, not quickly (the "Waiting" part).

I've always found the rest of the 43.4 text hard to understand:

"Lead a sheep on a rope, regrets vanish.
Hear words, not trusted."​

Here is what Hilary says about that part:

"Such long-term decisions become credible when they are made in actions, not words. Rather than talking about it, it's better to let your actions speak, like the man who leads out a sheep to show his surrender."​

(Apparently that is how one surrenders in China? With sheep and not white flags? Did not know that.)

One way your actions could speak louder than your words in this situation is by doing a really good job in your training course. That way you will show your trainers that you are an asset to them, rather than just telling them in an interview that you would be. If they were to "hear words" in a job application process that are contrary to what they've actually seen, they wouldn't "trust" those words. Of course, that goes for the other two students as well as yourself. So try to "outshine" them (the hex 5 oracle again).

And you're already doing that ! You said, "I'm keeping my head up [the confidence part] and working hard."

You may or may not get their job, and anyway, that was the subject of your other reading, not this one. But at the very least, even if they don't hire you, good diligent work will get you good references.

This next part is not exactly from the reading, but in my opinion it will not hurt you that your trainers see that you're not putting all your eggs in their basket. They have made it clear that they can't guarantee you a permanent job. So if they thought you were relying on getting their job, and doing nothing else, they might see it as immaturity, foolish burying your head in the sand, or hubris. But you're not doing that . You're plugging away at other opportunities, while still letting them know you'd like to stay.

I think Mirian is correct about the "worry less" part. But I think that comes as a result of all this work, rather than being a prescription. 43.4 says, "regrets vanish," but they vanish because of all the effort you're making to secure a job, and because you are proving to your trainers what a good employee you are. You're leaving no stone unturned, therefore you will have nothing to regret.

Your second reading...I don't think the "tree encircled by walls" in hex 47 is any kind of lovely, peaceful garden, exactly. It sounds to me more like a city tree that has a concrete sidewalk around it. But it may not be a description of your current company, per se. I mean, if you felt confined, oppressed, and exhausted there, you probably wouldn't want to stay, and you said you do.

More likely it refers to the process of applying for their job, which certainly could be all of those things. As Mirian said, "this is not going to happen as fast as you would like it."

Maybe they will drag this out, and drag it out, and drag it out. Maybe there will be what seem like endless steps to the process, that you will have to work through bit by bit. I really don't know. But I do agree with Mirian that patience is your friend here.

Ah wait! (Just as I was about to click on "Submit.") The "crimson sashes" in the line text could mean what we call "red tape." Do you know that expression? (I don't know where you're from.) Wikipedia defines "red tape" as:

"[E]xcessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations."​

[Edited: Should mention that just because it may seem like red tape to you, as the applicant, doesn't mean there are no good reasons for it from the company's point of view. That definition sounds entirely negative, and it may not entirely be.]

That certainly could fit. It also fits well with what Hilary says about 47.5, how to work with things you can't avoid and which have power over you:

"Moving on slowly and gently will ensure you do not escalate the problem or get more heavily involved fighting to change things that will not change. If you cannot act directly on the source of oppression, you can still act on your own inner state, and smooth over the friction in relationships by using modest offerings.

There are circumstances here you cannot change, but if you are choosing your own response, how could you be trapped?"​

A word that springs to mind here (for both the readings, actually) is equanimity: "Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, esp. in a difficult situation. Level-headedness, self-possession, coolheadedness, presence of mind." (That's what popped up when I typed "equanimity" into Google.)

See how that sort of ties everything together? Rather than going through this feeling frustrated and aggravated, as if it's a death march (43.4), you'll get through it more easily by accepting it as it comes, calmly. And you'll come across better to employers, too.

(Should put that word in my own pocket, ahem .)

 

[Liselle]

I don't know where you're from.

SOMEone cannot read what is in plain sight on the screen.