A small decision but interesting reading...

[SophiaNY]

Hello everyone,

This particular casting was not a huge deal for me, but I'm interested in what others think, as it will also help me understand how to work with the I Ching in a more intuitive way.

I have been pondering putting together a little gathering this coming weekend. I did something similar last year and it was loads of fun. This year, my circumstances are a bit different and more stressful, but I thought maybe it would be therapeutic for myself and my friends. But, I've found myself unwilling to send out invites, and trying to understand why. Don't know whether I should just pull myself together and make it happen, or lay low. I never ask Yi for predictions of the future, but I find it helpful to better understand the present energy/my own intuition. So I asked Yi:

"what is the energy around my having this gathering?" And I got: 51.1.4 >2
I was surprised, that seemed like a dramatic answer to a fairly quiet question on my part?

So then I asked:
"what is the energy around my not having the gathering?" And I got 15.1.3> 24

What do you think?

Thanks!

 

[ginnie]

51 doesn't necessarily mean earthquakes. Generally it means a state of arousal or getting into action . . . And you have been avoiding getting into action.

The energy around not having the gathering seems to imply that right now you are avoiding doing some hard work.

 

[mulberry]

I concur with Ginnie and don't have much to add. Has the question of the gathering and whether to have it turned into a kind of proxy representing/masking the real issue? The lines around 51 imply that following through and planning it would shake things up (and not in a negative way). Line 4 in particular seems to describe your current state of indecision, which is not positive.

Nothing about 15.1.3 jumps out at me in your context; it's a very quiet, positive response.

 

[SophiaNY]

Thank you both for your replies.

Ginnie, I have to laugh at your last line. I'm sitting here working on another project, and every so often I get fed-up and think about other things (like this gathering). It's one of the reasons I'm unsure about having it, since I'm under deadline. Anyway, avoiding doing some hard work might aptly describe my state at various times throughout the day. But, I take it you meant something deeper. Can I ask how you arrive at that, also since mulberry seemed to read 15.1.3 as a quiet positive response? I'm interested to learn more about interpreting...

Mulberry, I don't know that the gathering is proxy for anything, but there are other deeper issues that are concerning me right now, which is why I thought it might be 'therapeutic' to put this together and try and have some fun. I sort of wondered if line 4 implied that I would go through a lot of effort, and it would sort of be fun, but in the end I would still be stuck with my deeper situation, which the gathering can't address. I sort of wondered if the 15.1.3 response was saying that to not have it would just continue me on the path I am now...work hard and lay low.

Maybe Yi isn't all that fussed either.

 

[ginnie]

But, I take it you meant something deeper. Can I ask how you arrive at that

In 15.3 the Superior Man is said to be hardworking and he brings his affairs to fruition. I did not have anything deeper in mind, but was just reporting the gist of 15.3. I had no way of knowing you are working on another project and that you are under deadline! That being the case, it seems that Yi is counseling you to take care of the hard work. In other words, line 51.4, "muddled thinking," is beginning to make more sense, as the gathering would take you away from your work and might affect whether or not you'd get it done on time.

 

[SophiaNY]

Thanks so much, Ginnie. So do you look primarily to the top changing line in each hexagram? I keep tripping over myself trying to interpret those (in other readings as well), even though I've read the various posts on this site about them. I learned, from here, to focus on the directives given in the changing lines, but then I'm not always sure how to 'take in' the leading and related hexagram as additional information?

Funny about the hard work part!

 

[ginnie]

So do you look primarily to the top changing line in each hexagram?

No. In this case I remembered 15.3 better than I remembered 15.1 and that led to my comments . . . In other words, the 15.3 jumped out at me as being significant. I guess this is an intuition we develop.

The relating hexagram is most often giving the context or the background of why you're asking the question. It shows how you are 'related' to your question. Sometimes it also does indeed give the result, but more often it shows our hopes and wishes. The way we interpret grows as we do it.

In your readings, you got 15.1.3 > 24 for NOT holding the gathering. When I get 24 as my relating hex, that usually indicates to me that I have found the return to the best possible path. It can also indicate Yi's suggestion to stop asking questions on that one subject at that point; to take a rest.

 

[SophiaNY]

That's really helpful. Thanks so much.