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Blog post: Unchanging hexagrams and patterns of change

hilary

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(Note: this is a quick post, throwing an idea out into the ether as soon as it hatches, with just a few feathers sticking to its scrawny neck, and a great big gaping beak squawking ‘Feed me!’ It is distinctly lacking in flight-feathers of its own as yet.)

People instinctively feel that there must be some distinct, special meaning in receiving an unchanging hexagram. And I think there is – though it’s so closely tied up with the meaning of the particular hexagram received that it’s really quite hard to pin down.

Here’s another angle of approach to unchanging hexagrams that might help with that: the Patterns of Change.

The change patterns (which have almost as many names as there are people who’ve been fascinated by them) are hexagrams that depict only which lines in a hexagram are changing, and which are not. You can think of them as a map of where change is active in the reading, or as a description of the agency at work, acting on the primary hexagram through that particular pattern of changing lines to reveal the relating hexagram.

You can represent the pattern of changing lines in two opposite and complementary ways: by drawing each changing line as yang, and each unchanging line as yin, or vice versa – representing the change as an open space, as yin, and the unchanging lines as yang. The yang pattern (changing lines shown as yang) I find shows the ‘gateway in’ to a reading: it often captures the moment of asking the question in some way. And the yin pattern (changing lines shown as yin) shows the ‘gateway out’ from the reading, the way through and beyond it. It can show a way the reading might be put into action – and as such, it can be a source of advice.

Anyway… this leads to odd results when you look for the ‘patterns of change’ in a hexagram where no lines are changing: the yang pattern comes out as Hexagram 2 (no changing lines = no yang lines), and the yin pattern comes out as Hexagram 1 (no changing lines = no yin lines).

So if you receive an unchanging hexagram, you entered into your reading through Hexagram 2, Earth. You arrive at your question like the mare: free-roaming, full of energy and spirit, and paying the closest attention to cues and guidance. You have a ‘direction to go’, a sense of purpose – often a very coherent one with great power and momentum of its own – but you are still in search of a ‘master’, a sense of how it might unfold. There is a confusion of possibilities, and you are waiting for a single beacon to emerge from it all.

(Maybe this is why people sometimes find an unchanging hexagram frustrating: they have a particular desire for guidance, to be told how something is to be done, and they receive no moving lines. No specific advice ‘lights up’ for them; they’re not given signposts. It’s as if they’ve been short-changed, cheated of precisely the kind of answer they were looking for!)

The question that receives an unchanging hexagram in response might be asking, in effect, ‘Why?’ or ‘What is behind this?’ There’s an underlying desire to know and be in touch with the guiding principle at work: to connect with whatever it is that you’re enacting, manifesting or serving.

This questioner has no relating hexagram (yet). They have no place to stand from which to relate to this; they don’t have a way or place for it to ‘fit in’. There’s no answer (yet) to the question, ‘Where is this all taking me?’ or ‘how is this unfolding?’

So they enter the reading with Hexagram 2, and to carry on and move through it, they need to bring this into balance with Hexagram 1. That’s a balance of being in service and willing to lend support (to a person, to an ideal, to an idea…), with their own personal creativity. It could be as simple as uncovering who they want to be or what they want to do in and of themselves, from their own intrinsic creative drive, that is not a function of anything or anyone else.
 

zelion

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INMHO, when you receive an unchanging hexagram, you are given like a general remainder of the situation you are in, or a picture of the qualities and behavior you should pay attention for...

I mean its like a general advice, not an specific one, thus maybe we could forget about the patterns of change regarding unchanging hexagrams?

Some examples...

When I receive Hex. 27, for me its a remainder to be careful about what I say to other people, to be careful about words, when I'm about to speak about something to someone important to me, whatever it's a business or a personal situation.

When I receive hex. 56, usually I'm kind of a wanderer trying to fit in a new group, although sometimes I receive it when trying to get back in touch with some group of people.. its a remainder not to be demanding in anyway, because even if I had rights in that group before, now I need to gain my way in .. whatever is a friendship or a partnership I'm interested in...


Another example yet..I had received Hex. 35 unchanging in 2 different situations:

1.- When asking a very general picture of a situation and that situation is one of progress...

2.-But most of the time, in hindsight, I realized that when I receive Hex. 35, its an advice no to do what I had on my mind when asking a "what if a try this...?" type of question, because the situation is one of progress (although I'm not aware), but I can spoil the situation if a make some bold moves.. its like... Hey! you are already progressing here, but if you do that, you are going to lose your horses an audiences with the king ;-)

So, in general, I would define unchanging hexagrams as advices depicting the pros and cons of the situation you are in...

Maybe I didn't say anything new here, but just my two cents!
 

hilary

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Hi Zelion - thanks for the comment. 35 unchanging as a warning not to do what you have in mind is an interesting thought. Certainly some hexagrams unchanging can have quite strange meanings, especially the ones that suggest lots of energy and forward motion. 1 unchanging - superb inspirational idea, no place or way for this to become real. 11 unchanging - expect to be overwhelmed completely by large-scale events that sweep your everyday concerns out of sight. 49 unchanging - something like teenage rebellion-for-the-sake-of-it, no very clear positive idea of what might come next. 46 unchanging - OK, so you're climbing, but where to?

(All those are just examples, of course, not 'What It Always Means'.)

So 35 unchanging - 'your desire to advance and make the most of the opportunities is out of synch with the real world'? Or something like that?
 

zelion

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When I receive Hex. 35, I try to show my virtue, my worth, my abilities... And also try to adhere myself to obedience, as the judgment and image says ...

I think its very important to note that we are dealing with a king, we are trying to be something that the king likes, or maybe we try to do something that can be useful for him...

This king can be a person you love but you are not with, It can be the CEO of a company, etc...

But the important think to bear in mind is that in 35, we are in a situation where we need to be or do something that attracts this king so we can get our horses ;-)

Wheter is to be in a relationship with someone that can choose, and you want to be the one, or maybe an important position in a company, or maybe the king can be the producer that has the money to bring you script to the big screen! An so on...

In a nutshell, I would say that when you get Hex. 35, maybe the actions or the strategy in the back of your mind are the ones that are out of synch, but when getting 35, IMHO, it implies that you are somehow in a position where you can thrive... But maybe I'm wrong and not necessarily always the case! :eek:
 

Trojina

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So if you receive an unchanging hexagram, you entered into your reading through Hexagram 2, Earth. You arrive at your question like the mare: free-roaming, full of energy and spirit, and paying the closest attention to cues and guidance. You have a ‘direction to go’, a sense of purpose – often a very coherent one with great power and momentum of its own – but you are still in search of a ‘master’, a sense of how it might unfold. There is a confusion of possibilities, and you are waiting for a single beacon to emerge from it all.

The other side of the hex 2 i think is you may have no choice, , you follow the path already previously laid down in tradition/law/custom.or outer circumstances guide you inevitably in a direction, theres no other way to go. So an unchanging hexagram can simply be a 'this is how it is' statement. Not everything in our lives is malleable . Hex 2 always reminds me of something like an application form for a job. You have to follow the guidelines...you can't gallop off the sides of the page and write exactly what you want to write.

The mare you describe is free and having some choice...a very liberated and proactive mare lol but I'm not so sure about that...the other side is fatedness/submission to destiny and pre existing facts/realities that can't be reshaped to our own will.

Sometimes the unchanging hex is simply that which cannot be changed..is how it is. Sometimes its meaningis very clear like "what shall i do in this relationship ?" 33 unchanging...well it just doesn't give you space to wonder in does it ?



(Maybe this is why people sometimes find an unchanging hexagram frustrating: they have a particular desire for guidance, to be told how something is to be done, and they receive no moving lines. No specific advice ‘lights up’ for them; they’re not given signposts. It’s as if they’ve been short-changed, cheated of precisely the kind of answer they were looking for!)

..sometimes maybe we feel cheated because we thought the whole thing involved us more, but the whole thing is rolling on with or without us anyway

The question that receives an unchanging hexagram in response might be asking, in effect, ‘Why?’ or ‘What is behind this?’ There’s an underlying desire to know and be in touch with the guiding principle at work: to connect with whatever it is that you’re enacting, manifesting or serving.

This questioner has no relating hexagram (yet). They have no place to stand from which to relate to this; they don’t have a way or place for it to ‘fit in’. There’s no answer (yet) to the question, ‘Where is this all taking me?’ or ‘how is this unfolding?’

So they enter the reading with Hexagram 2, and to carry on and move through it, they need to bring this into balance with Hexagram 1. That’s a balance of being in service and willing to lend support (to a person, to an ideal, to an idea…), with their own personal creativity. It could be as simple as uncovering who they want to be or what they want to do in and of themselves, from their own intrinsic creative drive, that is not a function of anything or anyone else.

What i said doesn't contradict this really. One is presented with something almost as a fact, the state of something and how it is has nothing much to do with ones particular stance to it...so given that thats the case one has to decide what stance to take to it A bit like the weather !

Its raining ! How do i feel about the rain..shall i like it or not..what kind of relationship shall i have to it. Shall i allow it to soak me or take a brolly...shall I hide and try to pretend its not there....and so on
 
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fkegan

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Hi Hilary,

If the Oracle hexagram is your basic answer to your question. Then in a universe of flux it is still in process. If there are moving lines the ongoing change is channeled into those stages. If there are no moving lines, then the natural motion of the Oracle will be through all the lines in sequence of the Oracle hexagram. What happens after the 6th and final line? That is the Next Timing and situation out the other end of the Oracle.

Frank
 

Trojina

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49 unchanging is hard to understand...i think it might be one is simply caught up in the bigger moulting cycle (of whatever the question is about)...like the Wheel of Fortune in the Tarot you may be on the upside of the wheel or the downside, you have to roll with it
 

fkegan

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Hi Trojan,

Hex 49 describes the natural process of molting the old outside while preserving the continuing inside essence. In a hex 49 Oracle with no moving lines, the entire process is highlighting, in sequence from first line to top line which is the transition to some Next timing or situation. Or in some, Life Goes On... The more things Change the more they stay the same, etc.
 

hilary

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When I receive Hex. 35, I try to show my virtue, my worth, my abilities... And also try to adhere myself to obedience, as the judgment and image says ...

I think its very important to note that we are dealing with a king, we are trying to be something that the king likes, or maybe we try to do something that can be useful for him...

This king can be a person you love but you are not with, It can be the CEO of a company, etc...

But the important think to bear in mind is that in 35, we are in a situation where we need to be or do something that attracts this king so we can get our horses ;-)

Wheter is to be in a relationship with someone that can choose, and you want to be the one, or maybe an important position in a company, or maybe the king can be the producer that has the money to bring you script to the big screen! An so on...

In a nutshell, I would say that when you get Hex. 35, maybe the actions or the strategy in the back of your mind are the ones that are out of synch, but when getting 35, IMHO, it implies that you are somehow in a position where you can thrive... But maybe I'm wrong and not necessarily always the case! :eek:

I agree that you're in a position where you can thrive. Also, I think the basic scenario is that you are already the favoured one of the king - in some way - and hence you have the gift of horses. Thing is, that brings the responsibility of doing something with them. Nuclear hexagram of 35 is 39: the gift has the potential to be like the 'gift' of self-renewing soil given to Yu the Great - along with the lifelong task of overcoming the floods. Or like someone gifted with great musical talent, so they must spend six hours a day, every day, practising, to multiply those horses.

Having said that... the most recent time I saw 35 unchanging, your description of someone needing to do the right things to gain the king's favour was spot on. It'd be good to gather some more experiences of this one.

A while ago, there was a member here who maintained that any hexagram, unchanging, simply meant the opposite of its usual meaning. I'd say that's a thorough oversimplification, but she must have done a good few readings where that fitted to get the idea in the first place.

The other side of the hex 2 i think is you may have no choice, , you follow the path already previously laid down in tradition/law/custom.or outer circumstances guide you inevitably in a direction, theres no other way to go. So an unchanging hexagram can simply be a 'this is how it is' statement. Not everything in our lives is malleable . Hex 2 always reminds me of something like an application form for a job. You have to follow the guidelines...you can't gallop off the sides of the page and write exactly what you want to write.

The mare you describe is free and having some choice...a very liberated and proactive mare lol but I'm not so sure about that...the other side is fatedness/submission to destiny and pre existing facts/realities that can't be reshaped to our own will.

Sometimes the unchanging hex is simply that which cannot be changed..is how it is. Sometimes its meaningis very clear like "what shall i do in this relationship ?" 33 unchanging...well it just doesn't give you space to wonder in does it ?
Yes, unchanging can be 'this is how it is'. The absence of relating hexagram can be 'you haven't decided where you stand and how you relate to this' or it can be 'there is nothing for you to do, no stance for you to have, it is how it is.'

Earlier today a client asked me to cast a 'what if I...?' reading for her - so I did. Then looked at this and wondered about the alternative, phrased a question about the alternative and cast, and received an unchanging hexagram. Subsequently I looked at the way I'd phrased the question and thought that maybe it was something she would never do, a possibility she wouldn't relate to at all. So there's another interpretation of 'no relating'.

We can get so tied up with ideas of being submissive, receptive, mare-like, following, obedient, etc, etc that we forget that hexagram 2 actually introduces the concept of having a direction to go. You can read it almost as an exposition of what it really means to have a direction.

Hi Hilary,

If the Oracle hexagram is your basic answer to your question. Then in a universe of flux it is still in process. If there are moving lines the ongoing change is channeled into those stages. If there are no moving lines, then the natural motion of the Oracle will be through all the lines in sequence of the Oracle hexagram. What happens after the 6th and final line? That is the Next Timing and situation out the other end of the Oracle.

Frank

Yes - 'unchanging' is a misnomer of the first order - though maybe not quite as bad as 'static'. A while back we had a long discussion here about what we ought to be calling these things.

Not sure about reading through all the line texts, though. If you do that when no lines are changing, how do you differentiate that reading from one when all lines are, in fact, changing?
 

elvis

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People instinctively feel that there must be some distinct, special meaning in receiving an unchanging hexagram. And I think there is – though it’s so closely tied up with the meaning of the particular hexagram received that it’s really quite hard to pin down.

This is only so at the instance level and so personal consciousness, our subjectivity, colouring the hexagram.

The EIC focus covers an emotional assessment that is made of a situation and there is no response to that situation as yet - or there need be none since it is in accord with what is happening.

Thus, for example, using the EIC program and getting hexagram 35 reflects an assessment of a situation where such covers 'bringing something into the light' and so to attention of others. The emotional colouring of whether that is good/bad is up to the individual. (the trigrams cover "from devotion to another/others comes direction' and so some form of direction/ideology. At the more primitive level we have the grounding in primitive emotions and so "from fear comes acceptance")

Any changing lines reflect the presence of a response to the original assessment and as such these lines are indicative of actions taken by the individual or others in dealing with the situation OTHER THAN letting it proceed as one is in accord with that process.

The changing lines as such reflect unconscious activities that can manifest an incongruency between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Unchanging lines as such reflect an initial assessment without response (haven't used consciousness to 'think about it') OR we are in agreement both consciously and unconsciously re the assessment and so can extract finer details to identify purpose/outcome of this class of situation.
 

heylise

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When I get an unchanging hex, I like it. As if I am told that things are moving along quite right, just let them go, don't interfere, go along with the flow. Situation (the relating hex) and actions (the primary hex) are identical, so there is no divergence there, nothing I have to worry about or run after. Or maybe things are not that good, but there is nothing I can or should do about it.
 

fkegan

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When I get an unchanging hex, I like it. As if I am told that things are moving along quite right, just let them go, don't interfere, go along with the flow. Situation (the relating hex) and actions (the primary hex) are identical, so there is no divergence there, nothing I have to worry about or run after. Or maybe things are not that good, but there is nothing I can or should do about it.

Hi LiSe,

Interesting notion that somehow the Yi Oracle is static fundamentally with the only Flux involved being in moving lines. Like our Planet which is generally seen as static Terra Firma surrounded by crystal spheres that move on gears spinning about our solid, unmovable core.

From a more dynamic Flux Tome or Chou Yi perspective, of course all is Flux or Change. The only difference between an Oracle hexagram without moving lines is that the Resultant, as you note is the same hexagram. Thus, instead of taking one or more of the moving lines as a freeway off-ramp toward a new destination hexagram, the change remains along the 6 lines of the original hexagram starting with the first line and moving in sequence through to the 6th line where this hexagram forms its seed pod or flower and forms the transition to the Next Timing whatever that might be.

Frank
 

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