My kitty — Health Issues. Hexagrams 45.6 and 13.6

[sartoris]

Forgive me if my English is not very good. And forgive me for the long text!

My 16-year-old cat has been showing, since the beginning of the year, unusual symptoms: some scattered vomiting, a slight lethargy and weight loss. I went to 2 different vets: both asked for tests, and these were done. Nothing unusual appeared, except for a small inflammation in the intestine. I remember that she was considered to have chronic kidney disease (a small increase in the level of creatinine in her blood). I changed the diet and continued with the treatment, to which she responded positively.

Something that went undiagnosed was the perception of coughing events, as if something was bothering her throat.

A month ago, however, I noticed a strange formation on her face. She started to get a slight tearing in the eye on the same side of this mass. I took it to a new vet, who indicated the possibility of a tumor. I was told to take an x-ray to confirm it.

I was very sad about this event. I scheduled the x-ray for the end of next week.

I asked the I-Ching the same question twice: one before the appointment and one after: what does my cat have?

The answer I got before the consultation was 45.6:

45. Ts'ui / Gathering Together [Massing]

I focused on the image:

The image of GATHERING TOGETHER.

Thus the superior man renews his weapons
In order to meet the unforeseen.

If the water in the lake gathers until it rises above the earth, there is danger of a break-through. Precautions must be taken to prevent this. Similarly where men gather together in great numbers, strife is likely to arise; where possessions are collected, robbery is likely to occur. Thus in the time of GATHERING TOGETHER we must arm promptly to ward off the unexpected. Human woes usually come as a result of unexpected events against which we are not forearmed. If we are prepared, they can be prevented.

Line 6 talks about:

Six at the top means:

Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears.

No blame.

It may happen that an individual would like to ally himself with another, but his good intentions are misunderstood. Then he becomes sad and laments. But this is the right course. For it may cause the other person to come to his senses, so that the alliance that has been sought and so painfully missed is after all achieved.

Interestingly, I thought of the image in two ways: the first being my meeting with the vet the next day: in a way, he's the leader in this case. But my question was "What does my cat have?", so I imagined another, more symbolic scenario for what is happening: I imagined this firm mass on her face as the "encounter", a gathering of bodies around a center.

But the line 6 — and if I follow this reasoning — is hard to interpret. I could only link this line to my own regret after the consultation (lamenting and sighing).

The question was the same after the consultation: "What does my cat have? What future is ahead"

Iching curiously replied: 13.6:

13. T'ung Jên / Fellowship with Men

Success.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
The perseverance of the superior man furthers.

THE IMAGE

Heaven together with fire:

The image of FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN.
Thus the superior man organizes the clans
And makes distinctions between things.

Heaven has the same direction of movement as fire, yet it is different from fire. Just as the luminaries in the sky serve for the systematic division and arrangement of time, so human society and all things that really belong together must be organically arranged. Fellowship should not be a mere mingling of individuals or of things--that would be chaos, not fellowship. If fellowship is to lead to order, there must be organization within diversity.

Line 6 (another line 6) talks about:

Nine at the top means:

Fellowship with men in the meadow.
No remorse.

The warm attachment that springs from the heart is lacking here. We are by this time actually outside of fellowship with others. However, we ally ourselves with them. The fellowship does not include all, but only those who happen to dwell near one another. The meadow is the pasture at the entrance to the town. At this stage, the ultimate goal of the union of mankind has not yet been attained, but we need not reproach ourselves. We join the community without separate aims of our own.

I might be terribly wrong in interpreting Yi this way, but it was inevitable: "the clans gathering around the fire" once again made me think of the biological aspect: a mass made of some substance gathering in her body.

I found a very interesting thread about this hexagram here on the website, and an interpretation caught my attention:

I think 'people' in the name of 13 refers to everyone, or everything, which you make 'your' people. Not limited to humans, not even to physical beings. Even your thoughts can be 'your people' or they can be aliens, it depends on your ability to make a unity with or among them or not.

13.5 A union is not something which happens, it has to be made. There is the need for knowing each other in order to get along well. Or to know whom to avoid. Show your feelings at the right moment, all your sadness and joy, all your intentions. The enemy is the unknown one. Make everything clear like 30.

And in the spirit line, 13.6, it is good to stay in the meadow, don't expect everyone to be of the same level. Some change like leopards, others only in the face (49.6). If you limit your exchange to your own level, nothing new or unexpected can meet you, no possibility to grow, to expand your horizon.

The reading I made is that it is in fact a (malignant) tumor. Line 6 seems to indicate that it intends to spread. Curiously this interpretation speaks of faces and leopards...

Anyway, I could be wrong to analyze it this way. Again, the hexagram may indicate my partnership with this veterinarian, who I thought was the best I've known so far. He's being very honest and straightforward, and I always think it's best to be pragmatic at these times.

I know my cat is old, but, like me, I'm sure all responsible pet owners in the world would like their pet to die naturally, without pain, without stress, without major inconveniences. All I wish is that she doesn't have pain and that she doesn't linger. I want quality of life for her.

I appreciate any analysis done by you! The interpretation of others, without the emotional burden that the situation imposes, is always important.

Thanks!

 

[rosada]

I don't have the expertise to diagnose medical conditions using the I Ching but I will tell you what I see in these lines. What stands out to me is the fact that both hexagrams refer to being part of a group and in both answers you received the sixth line which is a sign of energies having reached their climax and moving on. So I'm thinking perhaps you are being advised that the cat is old, maybe so old she is shutting down, preparing to leave. The future ahead then would be the 45.6 sadness for you if she is indeed leaving but also the 13.6 reassurance that in leaving there is no need for remorse.
So at least a reassurance for you for your wish for her peaceful passing whenever that time comes.

 

[Trojina]

We have a Yi cat expert here she may be able to help @Liselle

 

[Trojina]

I agree with most of what you've said Sartoris though I feel the 45.6 is your sorrow.

You asked

I was very sad about this event. I scheduled the x-ray for the end of next week.

I asked the I-Ching the same question twice: one before the appointment and one after: what does my cat have?

The answer I got before the consultation was 45.6:

In my experience 45.6 invariably predicts actual crying and here crying is not showing there is anything wrong it's a natural culmination of the matter asked about which doesn't make it less painful but can make it less stressful.

You say 'I was very sad about this event' then got 45.6 so I feel Yi skipped the question to refer to your loss/imminent loss. I may be wrong of course, some cats live longer than this, though 16 is old, and some cats might push through tumours and such but overall it's not sounding good for your cat is it

A month ago, however, I noticed a strange formation on her face. She started to get a slight tearing in the eye on the same side of this mass. I took it to a new vet, who indicated the possibility of a tumor. I was told to take an x-ray to confirm it.

Also 45.6 is very descriptive here if it involves the cat's eye, you use the word 'tearing' which I know here means a breaking of the skin but it also sounds like weeping.

You have had the xray but not said what the result was? We can't diagnose here, it doesn't make much sense to diagnose from Yi, the vet can do that, but Yi is talking about the meaning of the whole event for you.


I'm seeing it all as to do with the loss of your cat, seems to me that's what Yi's talking about, it's counselling you on loss. You will be or are crying and crying and the descriptiveness of the act of crying here emphasises these are very actual wet tears.

'Paying tribute: lamenting, weeping, snivelling.
Not a mistake.'

I wrote of 45.6 in wiki

I think 45.6 can be a time where all the gathering effort of 45 has been given. Goals might have been reached , something might be finished, and yet I have found there are inevitably always real tears here. I think the tears are a kind of resting from investing. What you had invested in you can invest in no more, it's all done. Your feelings at realisation of completion pull you up to an abrupt halt. You can't actually continue with anything while you are crying. This line often signifies crying is all you can do for a little while.


That ties in a little with 13.6, the 'resting from investing'. 13.6 is a kind of point of departure where there is inevitably distancing as the one leaving has their sights set on further shores.

The question was the same after the consultation: "What does my cat have? What future is ahead"

Iching curiously replied: 13.6:

'People in harmony at the outskirts altar.
No regrets.'

You're in harmony together in the outskirts, it just reminds me of people at an airport saying fond farewells.



I could well be wrong about all this but I feel Yi is comforting you and preparing you to let your cat get on that plane. I like how the word is 'harmony' here, you and the cat aren't fighting in intent. You aren't desperately forcing him to live if he 'wants' to die. It's way more like the love exchanged in the departure lounge. Also fan yao of 13.6 is 49.6, your reference to faces and leopards. All I'd say about that is 13.6 and 49.6 are all in the same storyline....endings=radical new beginnings. Maybe your cat will be a leopard in his next life?



You've had several line 6s also so again this is implying endings.

 

[Liselle]

We have a Yi cat expert here she may be able to help @Liselle

Right. Just ask Tibbles, who was on the wrong treatment for a couple of months because I misinterpreted a 57uc. (Yes she was to the vet several times, it's just that one way to diagnose mystery ailments is to try a treatment or two and see whether they help, and I thought the 57uc was pointing in one of the possible directions. It wasn't.)

Ahem.


Sartoris, I'm very sorry to hear about your poor cat. I agree with you that 45 probably confirms it is in fact a mass (tumor).

The last time I had 45.6, I thought it meant that the weeping etc. served an important purpose, like I had to get really upset in order to actually notice / do the thing I was asking about. If I didn't get so upset, I'd continue on -ing. This might have to do with the fact that 45.6 changes to hexagram 12, Blocked. It takes a lot to get through a Block.

In your case you're already doing everything that has to be done, so it's not that exactly. I don't know what exactly, but it might still serve a purpose.

Or as Trojina said it might refer to how your cat's eye is watering. A mass that's causing her eye to water involuntarily.

I agree I don't want to try to go much farther in guessing about outcomes. (See: misadventure in the first paragraph.) It could very well mean there's nothing the vet can do for her, but often it's hard to know for sure from a reading. X-rays and doctors don't speak in metaphors.

If I remember correctly I think Hilary has said that oftentimes medical readings are helpful in hindsight - she can recognize what it's saying once she knows it from a doctor, and then it might be confirmation from Yi that the doctor is on the right track.

With yours, all we know for sure is Yi's saying you're at an "outskirts altar (/meadow)," you're "creating harmony," and there need be "no regrets." "Creating harmony" could mean a lot of things, ranging from successfully treating her, to a loving, peaceful goodbye.

Really I agree with everything Rosada and Trojina posted, especially that the "no regrets" is comforting and reassuring, and how Trojina said Yi's likely talking to you more personally rather than trying to describe medical results which you'll find out soon. (I sympathize with sitting and waiting for test results...)