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pocossin
visitor
- Joined
- Feb 7, 1970
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How can I best cultivate my faith?
39 unchanging
By encountering and surmounting challenges to it.
39 unchanging
By encountering and surmounting challenges to it.
thank you, pocossin.
reminds me of a dream i had last week, very much about faith and encountering an obstacle - in this case the side of a building.
the roller coaster-like ride i was on (that had begun with a push off into space, like a leap of faith) had hit the side of the building. at that point the vessel was no longer; i had instead handles in my hand, attached to long cables that climbed the building up, up, up and out of view.
i wasn't hurt but felt a little stranded, not sure what to do.
however, INSTRUCTIONS regarding what to do were announced over a loudspeaker, part of some P.A. system. i could not make them out; they were loud but not clear, mixed up as they were with the noise of my own thoughts. (i guess i was the obstruction to hearing them.)
i heard some words but could not - hello - get the message.
so i decided, well hell, what good can these handles/cables do me now? and i let them go. BIG mistake.
i released them and they immediately zinged away up the side of the very tall building, away and out of sight. i thought to myself, though, ya know, i bet that might cause a bit of a problem for somebody up there. (hmmm, "somebody up there.") and i had the immediate and strong sense that i had really messed up.
and i certainly had, judging by the commentary i could hear, like the voices of "mission control." i had in fact set in motion a literal disaster. someone said, "oh my god." (it was like i had an earpiece and was tuned into the dialogue going on about "what just happened?")
it occurred to me that i could still walk away and nobody would ever know it had been me responsible.
nobody that is...except me. I would know.
then i saw one ramification of what i'd done; all the buildings in the city (skyscrapers among them) had toppled, almost as if the cables attached to the handles in my hand had been holding up the buildings.
in replaying it, the first thing that got my attention was my "noise" having made indiscernible the message i was getting; the instructions for just such a situation. my inner monologue - the worry, the chatter - had made getting the message impossible. it was there, the help i needed, but i wasn't hearing it. further, there was a kind of stubborn willfulness to my actions; a brand of recklessness, too.
speaking of encountering and surmounting.
reminds me of a dream i had last week, very much about faith and encountering an obstacle - in this case the side of a building.
the roller coaster-like ride i was on (that had begun with a push off into space, like a leap of faith) had hit the side of the building. at that point the vessel was no longer; i had instead handles in my hand, attached to long cables that climbed the building up, up, up and out of view.
i wasn't hurt but felt a little stranded, not sure what to do.
however, INSTRUCTIONS regarding what to do were announced over a loudspeaker, part of some P.A. system. i could not make them out; they were loud but not clear, mixed up as they were with the noise of my own thoughts. (i guess i was the obstruction to hearing them.)
i heard some words but could not - hello - get the message.
so i decided, well hell, what good can these handles/cables do me now? and i let them go. BIG mistake.
i released them and they immediately zinged away up the side of the very tall building, away and out of sight. i thought to myself, though, ya know, i bet that might cause a bit of a problem for somebody up there. (hmmm, "somebody up there.") and i had the immediate and strong sense that i had really messed up.
and i certainly had, judging by the commentary i could hear, like the voices of "mission control." i had in fact set in motion a literal disaster. someone said, "oh my god." (it was like i had an earpiece and was tuned into the dialogue going on about "what just happened?")
it occurred to me that i could still walk away and nobody would ever know it had been me responsible.
nobody that is...except me. I would know.
then i saw one ramification of what i'd done; all the buildings in the city (skyscrapers among them) had toppled, almost as if the cables attached to the handles in my hand had been holding up the buildings.
in replaying it, the first thing that got my attention was my "noise" having made indiscernible the message i was getting; the instructions for just such a situation. my inner monologue - the worry, the chatter - had made getting the message impossible. it was there, the help i needed, but i wasn't hearing it. further, there was a kind of stubborn willfulness to my actions; a brand of recklessness, too.
speaking of encountering and surmounting.
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- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 815
- Reaction score
- 43
thoughts on your roller coaster dream...
Stephen Karcher says that H 39:40 and H 25:26 are "shadow sites". (Perhaps someone who knows more about this can explain what this means. I simply mention it here because the dreams you have shared with us seem to evoke these two pairs.)
If you consider Hexagram 39 in terms of its pairing with Hexagram 40:
"Comings and Goings" leading to "Deliverance"
then perhaps it is only a seeming disaster that you let go of the cables and the city falls.
For your "ticket" dream you received H 26 with changing lines. The "roller coaster cable" dream reminds me of the third line of Hexagram 25. "The disaster of disentangling. Maybe someone tethered a cow - Traveling people's gain, townspeoples's diaster"
In your dream, when you let go of the cables, is it like "freeing a tethered cow"? The "city" falls. But you are fine.
And Mary Oliver's poem also comes to mind:
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Perhaps the dream voices from "Mission Control" are just afraid. Perhaps nothing really vital is harmed. "Letting Go" of the cable is an act of faith. The dream answered the same question you asked about cultivating faith.
But one thing Hilary says about h39 is "take a step back from the struggle and connect with people"...So when you let go of the cable and let the "city" fall and if you are "leaving the voices around you... shouting their bad advise".....to whom or what are you building that bridge in your other "faith" dream?
Stephen Karcher says that H 39:40 and H 25:26 are "shadow sites". (Perhaps someone who knows more about this can explain what this means. I simply mention it here because the dreams you have shared with us seem to evoke these two pairs.)
If you consider Hexagram 39 in terms of its pairing with Hexagram 40:
"Comings and Goings" leading to "Deliverance"
then perhaps it is only a seeming disaster that you let go of the cables and the city falls.
For your "ticket" dream you received H 26 with changing lines. The "roller coaster cable" dream reminds me of the third line of Hexagram 25. "The disaster of disentangling. Maybe someone tethered a cow - Traveling people's gain, townspeoples's diaster"
In your dream, when you let go of the cables, is it like "freeing a tethered cow"? The "city" falls. But you are fine.
And Mary Oliver's poem also comes to mind:
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Perhaps the dream voices from "Mission Control" are just afraid. Perhaps nothing really vital is harmed. "Letting Go" of the cable is an act of faith. The dream answered the same question you asked about cultivating faith.
But one thing Hilary says about h39 is "take a step back from the struggle and connect with people"...So when you let go of the cable and let the "city" fall and if you are "leaving the voices around you... shouting their bad advise".....to whom or what are you building that bridge in your other "faith" dream?
thank you.
that the dream felt to me something like a vision of potential - what could be - lends weight to the notion of "seeming" disaster; and yes, it has occurred to me that the crash into the wall might not necessarily be an "accident."
further, walking home yesterday the image of the handles and cables being something like puppet strings connected to "someone up there" really set my mind in motion.
further, the buildings were not demolished into rubble, it was more like they were laying down - like the facade of a hollywood flat might were their behind-the-scenes support structure removed - which brings me back to the role the cables served.
as i mentioned to you via PM, callingcrane, a dream a week previous to this also involved a "ride" (hot air balloon) that crashed into the side of a building. i was not hurt in that one (either); in fact, the end result of that dream was me bringing back to life someone who fell from a balloon that was much higher in the sky.
karcher and shadow sites: http://onlineclarity.co.uk/answers/2010/04/15/shadow-hexagrams/
that the dream felt to me something like a vision of potential - what could be - lends weight to the notion of "seeming" disaster; and yes, it has occurred to me that the crash into the wall might not necessarily be an "accident."
further, walking home yesterday the image of the handles and cables being something like puppet strings connected to "someone up there" really set my mind in motion.
further, the buildings were not demolished into rubble, it was more like they were laying down - like the facade of a hollywood flat might were their behind-the-scenes support structure removed - which brings me back to the role the cables served.
as i mentioned to you via PM, callingcrane, a dream a week previous to this also involved a "ride" (hot air balloon) that crashed into the side of a building. i was not hurt in that one (either); in fact, the end result of that dream was me bringing back to life someone who fell from a balloon that was much higher in the sky.
karcher and shadow sites: http://onlineclarity.co.uk/answers/2010/04/15/shadow-hexagrams/
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- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 815
- Reaction score
- 43
I know it has been 3 weeks or more since you had this dream and perhaps you're already on to other things...but...
For some reason the imagery of the dream you posted here keeps coming back to me; specifically:
"all the buildings in the city had toppled
The image is so like the sixth changing line of Hexagram 11, "The city walls dissolve and return to the moat. Do not use the legions now. This oracle originates from the capital. Trial: Distress" (Karcher's translation)
And Hilary's commentary seems relevant: "But at the summit of Mount Tai, a new ruler has come into harmony with the spirits and received the mandate from Heaven. Declare this mandate from your city: announce your authentic purpose from you own seat of authority."
And I am wondering if the distresses voices of "mission control" in the dream were the voices of "old rulers", parts of yourself had learned to control things in a certain way for survival. And now you've taken a "leap of faith" and have a "new ruler" --- a centered part of yourself that is more in touch with your authentic purpose. Or, did you truly "mess up" and miss hearing the guiding voices (more like the 6th changing line of H 21, "locked in a wooden stock so your ears disappear")?
Because of what you said about the puppet strings, I am thinking the former is true. That you have a new, authentic ruler rather than being a puppet on a string. The dream imagery really is more consistent with 11.6 than 21.6.
For some reason the imagery of the dream you posted here keeps coming back to me; specifically:
"all the buildings in the city had toppled
The image is so like the sixth changing line of Hexagram 11, "The city walls dissolve and return to the moat. Do not use the legions now. This oracle originates from the capital. Trial: Distress" (Karcher's translation)
And Hilary's commentary seems relevant: "But at the summit of Mount Tai, a new ruler has come into harmony with the spirits and received the mandate from Heaven. Declare this mandate from your city: announce your authentic purpose from you own seat of authority."
And I am wondering if the distresses voices of "mission control" in the dream were the voices of "old rulers", parts of yourself had learned to control things in a certain way for survival. And now you've taken a "leap of faith" and have a "new ruler" --- a centered part of yourself that is more in touch with your authentic purpose. Or, did you truly "mess up" and miss hearing the guiding voices (more like the 6th changing line of H 21, "locked in a wooden stock so your ears disappear")?
Because of what you said about the puppet strings, I am thinking the former is true. That you have a new, authentic ruler rather than being a puppet on a string. The dream imagery really is more consistent with 11.6 than 21.6.
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i find myself coming back to hitting a/the wall. "trial:distress" seems to approach something of that. the releasing of the cables when i replay it and remember the thinking/feeling and my own worried thoughts obfuscating the instructions feels kind of like an "i can't do this anymore" state of mind. a fatigue of sorts. maybe even an "i quit" moment.
i do in fact feel like i have hit a wall, in a way, and am somewhat at a loss as to how to keep going, and part of the trial aspect seems to involve learning new ways, as you suggest, of continuing, perservering.
i keep returning to another dream i had that includes jumping into a lake that a trail through the desert has finally arrived at. i dive in and throw off my heavy boots. this after i have left my walking-along-the-trail body and "flown" ahead of myself and around a bend (into the future?) to see that the lake is in fact there. the "higher self," if you will, (certainly higher when flying) sees the lake that is around the bend, while another part of me knows only the trail and is, frankly, weary of the walking.
so, hold on, don't let go is the message i seem to be receiving. an "almost there" scenario.
the No SHALL become a Yes...in its time.
i don't know. trial/distress certainly resonates. as does your notion of learning new ways/rulers.
______________________________
i inquire:
when i released the handles in the dream, what was i doing?
19 (changing lines 1,2,6) to 23.
HB:
19, Nearing
Key Questions
How does this want to grow?
How can you take responsibility for its development?
What would your greater self do?
‘Nearing’ means drawing closer and gazing down over what you approach. There are two strands of meaning here: the approach of a greater spirit or presence in an ongoing process of growth, and your approach as the one who pays attention and takes responsibility. Like the creative drive of Hexagram 1, this great, growing energy comes from the source, asks for your full participation, and seeks to reach fruition and be realized. But its surging growth can be disastrously interrupted by ‘reaching an end in the eighth month’.
(me: or, letting go the cables too soon.)
The eighth month is the month of harvest. If this comes round too soon for what Nears to reach full growth – if the situation demands that you produce a tangible result prematurely – then this means misfortune. Or if you focus exclusively on results instead of watching patiently over developments – if your expectations are out of touch with the pace of growth – then there is misfortune.
Changing Lines
Line 1
‘Influence nearing.
Constancy, good fortune.’
Line 2
‘Influence nearing, good fortune.
Nothing that does not bear fruit.’
Line 6
‘Great-hearted nearing
Good fortune, no mistake.’
23, Stripping Away
The surfaces are cut and sliced away; the old and unviable is stripped back to expose the living core. This inevitable, natural process often feels like a flaying: the more you have invested of yourself in these old things, the more painful it will be.
It’s no good, at such times, to imagine the future and make plans. You need to bring your energy back to the centre and honour the process: this is a time to be transformed, not to act. Moreover, until the old is so utterly stripped from you that you have no choice but to think in new ways, you will only be able to re-create the old patterns.
well, hello. it's all there.
- learning to fly by falling through sky
i do in fact feel like i have hit a wall, in a way, and am somewhat at a loss as to how to keep going, and part of the trial aspect seems to involve learning new ways, as you suggest, of continuing, perservering.
i keep returning to another dream i had that includes jumping into a lake that a trail through the desert has finally arrived at. i dive in and throw off my heavy boots. this after i have left my walking-along-the-trail body and "flown" ahead of myself and around a bend (into the future?) to see that the lake is in fact there. the "higher self," if you will, (certainly higher when flying) sees the lake that is around the bend, while another part of me knows only the trail and is, frankly, weary of the walking.
so, hold on, don't let go is the message i seem to be receiving. an "almost there" scenario.
the No SHALL become a Yes...in its time.
i don't know. trial/distress certainly resonates. as does your notion of learning new ways/rulers.
______________________________
i inquire:
when i released the handles in the dream, what was i doing?
19 (changing lines 1,2,6) to 23.
HB:
19, Nearing
Key Questions
How does this want to grow?
How can you take responsibility for its development?
What would your greater self do?
‘Nearing’ means drawing closer and gazing down over what you approach. There are two strands of meaning here: the approach of a greater spirit or presence in an ongoing process of growth, and your approach as the one who pays attention and takes responsibility. Like the creative drive of Hexagram 1, this great, growing energy comes from the source, asks for your full participation, and seeks to reach fruition and be realized. But its surging growth can be disastrously interrupted by ‘reaching an end in the eighth month’.
(me: or, letting go the cables too soon.)
The eighth month is the month of harvest. If this comes round too soon for what Nears to reach full growth – if the situation demands that you produce a tangible result prematurely – then this means misfortune. Or if you focus exclusively on results instead of watching patiently over developments – if your expectations are out of touch with the pace of growth – then there is misfortune.
Changing Lines
Line 1
‘Influence nearing.
Constancy, good fortune.’
Line 2
‘Influence nearing, good fortune.
Nothing that does not bear fruit.’
Line 6
‘Great-hearted nearing
Good fortune, no mistake.’
23, Stripping Away
The surfaces are cut and sliced away; the old and unviable is stripped back to expose the living core. This inevitable, natural process often feels like a flaying: the more you have invested of yourself in these old things, the more painful it will be.
It’s no good, at such times, to imagine the future and make plans. You need to bring your energy back to the centre and honour the process: this is a time to be transformed, not to act. Moreover, until the old is so utterly stripped from you that you have no choice but to think in new ways, you will only be able to re-create the old patterns.
well, hello. it's all there.
- learning to fly by falling through sky
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