Positive and Negative Hexagrams

[hilary]

I've done that, too - getting about two lines into casting a hexagram, thinking 'Oh no, not that one again' - and it generally is. Maybe not so odd.

12 is block, obstruction, stasis... ugh... but then again, it's also possible to read its lines as ways to shift the stasis.

Happy New Year to you and everyone, too!

 

[el_2]

Hello and Happy New Year to all.

I agree that viewing hexagrams as either positive or negative is a very narrow and counterproductive view.

I think it is important to keep in mind that there'll always be things that are not under our control. Using the I Ching does not mean that all of a sudden we will have control over our environment or the future. But we can learn how to best situate ourselves in relation to circumstances in our lives. I've found that when I turn the focus to myself I no longer think in terms of positive or negative. In fact, I'd be worried if I didn't get the most challenging hexagrams or lines from time to time. I've also found that if I get a hexagram that promises "good fortune", then I have to be doubly alert in order to understand what the requirements to achieve that good fortune are. Whereas when I get an answer that I don't like, I always think "right, how can I correct this?" (when it is within my power to do so).

As regards hexagram 47: I've received it as an answer several times. There was a particular instance which made me think of it (of any hexagram) as a kind of spectrum. I received it as an answer at a time when I was already heeding the advice anyway, that is, feeling strong and not letting my spirit be broken. I was already at the end of the spectrum. So perhaps I was in circumstances not to my liking, but that time I focused on the feeling of empowerment; it felt great being strong no matter what.

As regards 12.3: I do not see it as negative at all. I recently got it as an answer to a question that was about the short-term, nothing very serious.

Wilhelm's commentary: "Inferior people who have risen to power illegitimately do not feel equal to the responsibility they have taken upon themselves. In their hearts they begin to be ashamed, although at first they do not show it outwardly. This marks a turn for the better."

The emphasis should be on the phrase "this marks a turn for the better". The answer was literally referring to me being somewhat shy when I am with a group of strangers, when I meet new people that is, no matter how friendly they are. I was aware of my feeling awkward with groups of strangers (I say "groups" because I'm not shy with one-to-one encounters with people I don't know) but that incident made me realize the consequences of my shyness and made me want to actively try to change that. Reflecting on 12.3 after the whole thing played out helped me do this. Would I have focused on this issue if I hadn't received the 12.3 answer? I don't know, but I'm sure glad I got this answer because this is what I'm working on now. 12.3 is very useful as it comes with a realization and this realization marks a turn for the better because you have a focus to start working on whatever the issue is.

Lastly, when I toss the coins (with a dear goal in mind) all sorts of thoughts swirl in my head. Most are focused on the question. Some, however, are hopes of the kind of answer I'd like to receive which are invariably followed with something along the lines of "I can't help hoping for an answer indicating a rosy outlook but what I really want is a useful answer and I know that you will give me a useful answer" (talking to the Yi). I've found the I Ching always prefers to give useful advice. I'd say look for the useful, not the positive or negative.

el_2

 

[heylise]

If you tell a good friend about the trouble you're in, and you ask advice, what would you prefer. "O, cheer up, you see problems where there are none" - or "geeze, I am so sorry for you, can understand how you feel, maybe we can search for a solution".

The first answer is a "good" one, the second one a "bad" one. Nonsense of course, but that is what many think the hexagrams do. Hex. 47 is bad - but I got it when I felt terrible, and it was a relief that I was heard and understood. Yes, things are tough, what can we do about it... The moving lines told me what would work positive and what would make things worse. What to do and what to avoid.

A "good" hexagram would have been of no use.

 

[anemos]

I do the same ! There are time I also want an answer to tell me that everything will be as i wish, but what i need is something helpful so I ask Yi to ignore my "needs" and say something I can use to handle the situation.

 

[anemos]

"geeze, I am so sorry for you, can understand how you feel, maybe we can search for a solution".

but I got it when I felt terrible, and it was a relief that I was heard and understood. Yes, things are tough, what can we do about it... .

I found this times the most precious to me. having to go through something that it was really tough and referring not only to present but my whole life I found it difficult to be heard. People had good intentions on their advice , I have no doubt on that but they use to skip a important part- to me- the "how I feel" . Someone advised me that i have to get used to the fact that its not easy to be understood in regards to this matter.

I got some nice reading and I felt totally heard !!! it was a relief , so important to me that i cried. Those reading gave space to those feelings and the feeling to be heard that was missing in the words of my friends that tried to cheer me up.

61.2 is a lovely line and when get it, makes you think that the one you try to reach will understand, hear you and respond. But this is not always the case. So , after some events, I feel this line sometimes is a reminder that sometimes , even if you share a 61.2 thing, you may not be heard ... and this is how life is.

 

[sooo]

I prefer sweet and sour over good and bad. A lemon by itself is sour, but a few drops on a salmon filet enhances and compliments the fish's flavor. Sometimes a lemon sour-ball candy hits the spot because it includes ample sugar. Sweet and sour soup is a personal favorite. It seems Chinese meals in particular include a wide variety of flavors and textures. It's a good way to trick kids into eating their veggies.

 

[leandroscardoso]

its not carved in stone

of course the yi jing have good and not good circumstances, it's clear when you read the line texts(they don't appear so much in the gua judgements because the lines are a division of the hexagram, and we can have more specific prognostics. My ear is not very good, but I bet a C, if a music is played in a C tone, sound more good and have more use than a F#(although in some parts of the music an F# would sond better than a C) and maybe even more use than a F (see the pentatonic scale used in Chinese music that every note sound harmonically with other, and the F, in a C tone scale is excluded, I don't know the occurrence of this in all the tones tough)
The Yi Jing should always be seen as choosing different paths, this is clear for example in go southwest or northeast in hexagram 坤 kūn the earth, every phrase in the Yi jing should be read as if have a big IF in the start of the phrase, the same word "if" the chinese language lacked.
Is tempting see the future as if he was in our hands, but things happen outside our sphere of control, events more powerful than we can handle, in such cases misfortune may fall upon us.

 

[ajdd]

An insightful observation useful to all who would find a definative answer through a specific reading. All must become enlightened by personal application to what is being projected not to be seen as generalizations but specific to the individual perspective.
ajdd 2012 /June 27th

 

[carolwdesign24]

Hello! I have heard hex often and lines with it yet, it is really perplex to me until now. Can you expound to me how hexagram works? Also, how would I know the line if it rise or fall?

 

[meng]

Hello! I have heard hex often and lines with it yet, it is really perplex to me until now. Can you expound to me how hexagram works? Also, how would I know the line if it rise or fall?

Hello!

The Yijing perplexes the better of us.

A line becomes old, and falls like fruit; sprouting, it grows upward. (only a metaphor)

But for reading structure, the old yang turns into its opposite, as does the old yin. When something reaches its extreme it shifts polarity. This creates a second hex, the transformed one. If you let these two hex ideas, along with applicable old change lines, play in your mind, let them fit into your question, circumstance or state of mind, it helps to acquire more objectivity and clarity. But along the way, it still can at times be maddeningly perplexing. There's no finish line that I'm aware of.

 

[svenrus]

Positive and negative hexagrams ?
If the meaning is good and bad, I agree.
Period.
-------
But I think that in the sense that Positive means Action/Yang and Negative means Reaction/Yin the whole of I Ching is sorted out that way.
Ta Chuan, ch. IX § 1. "Heaven is one, earth is two, heaven is three" and so on up to ten.
In King Wens order of the 64 hexagrams one will find that they are pared in opposit and inversed.
- Whether one out off that can conclude that hex 1 is 'Yes', hex 2 is 'no', hex 3 is 'yes' and so on; odd for active and even for reactive - I would not dare to claim.
But thats another part of it.

 

[WoodTiger]

Hi i come here sometimes but i dont post, i just look around for a bit of insight into my readings .

Hexagram 62 line 3, makes me nervous, iv'e had some not so good experiences with this hexagram/line.

Example: Before i wasn't aware of the meaning towards this hex/line.
So i do an early reading one day and get this hex/line, i think "what?, everthings sweet as, no problems here", so i go to work forgetting about the reading, on my way home, its late at night i get of the bus my house is 3-4 houses away, its on the main road, so im walking and "Whack", someone threw a heavy rock out there car window and it whacked the back of my head, it hurt, i was scared and i ran home.

Ive had other simular experiences with hexagram 62 line 3. So now i know to be mineful and watchout.
Worst thing is i got this reading for today...oh boy.

 

[EP Coach]

Thank you bradford
for contributing such crucial message on
"Positive and Negative Hexagrams"
Indeed I-Ching 易经 is about change
nothing is permanent
today happiness is tomorrow sorrow
today sorrow is tomorrow happiness

Andrew - EP Coach

 

[Brendon]

perfect answer in fact there are no good and bad hexagram it is just our thinking i guess we get manipulated to quickly in the beginning and then starts to blame on stars and Hexagram which is not good.

 

[sooo]

Hi i come here sometimes but i dont post, i just look around for a bit of insight into my readings .

Hexagram 62 line 3, makes me nervous, iv'e had some not so good experiences with this hexagram/line.

Example: Before i wasn't aware of the meaning towards this hex/line.
So i do an early reading one day and get this hex/line, i think "what?, everthings sweet as, no problems here", so i go to work forgetting about the reading, on my way home, its late at night i get of the bus my house is 3-4 houses away, its on the main road, so im walking and "Whack", someone threw a heavy rock out there car window and it whacked the back of my head, it hurt, i was scared and i ran home.

Ive had other simular experiences with hexagram 62 line 3. So now i know to be mineful and watchout.
Worst thing is i got this reading for today...oh boy.

Ow! So sorry. Yi can be awfully literal at times, and other times entirely symbolic. If it helps you to feel more at ease, I've received this line more times than I can remember, and was never literally hit from behind. Usually it just cautioned to slow down. Once, a very long time ago, I received 51 before a routine drive into NYC and I slid in the snow into another car on a highway on-ramp. Didn't expect that.

 

[butterfly spider]

The good the bad and the ugly (bit in the middle)

I had put away my coins and books and went climbing in the snow. Back into reality I cast the coins and got 63 (moving lines 1 and 3). Ground hog day yet again same old bad hexagram - I almost dread it. A letter from HMRC had arrived asking for information - I feared that I would get a bad reading and hex 29 moving line 6 even mentioned prison for 3 years (I have not done anything wrong by the way). Obviously my thoughts are not good and the bad hexagram and the bad moving lines are ominous. This morning I cast and got hexagram 35 a good hexagram - obviously all is going to be fine now
Then the thread with a new line came in - positive or negative hexagrams - and Bradfords words of wisdom. Looked at from the stance ofmy question one could conclude that I might as well resign myself to gate. However I have since looked at my questions again in the light of the thread.
Hexagram 29 is not actually saying that I will lurk in some dungeon for 3 years as it actually changes to hex 8. I have to look at exactly the question and what it offers and this is not just about a positive or negative outcome
I also notice that there is a habit of half way through a casting really not wanting a hexagram to appear - and it pops along. This in itself may need looking at. Why do Ifear hex 63 so much. I have also noticed that some threads say that this is the dreaded hex 49 or 43 or whatever when my own experience is exactly the opposite.
Hexagram 29 sounds irksome and dark but could be seen as a rest or long sleep

Anyway thank you for this little thread popping up just when I needed it today today I got
Hexagram 35 is a very positive little hexagram - so am feeling happy butthen I shouldn't say that....

 

[Trojina]

The last thing to do in 29 is sleep ! Surely one needs to stay awake, to live in the moment fully conscious, taking it as it comes. I can't see why 63 is bad ....

Looked at from the stance ofmy question one could conclude that I might as well resign myself to gate.

Gate ? Not sure what you mean ?

 

[butterfly spider]

Sorry I meant fate
Hexagram 29 represents a ravine filled with water - like kayaking down a river. Sometimes rather than staying alert and ready. However to take yourself out of your canoe and rest or take a nap means you can be more in the flow you can stay in the eddy or even rest on the bank for your onward journey - dont know just a thought
63 is only bad for me in that I keep getting it over and over and over and have done for the past 5 months. I wish I could cast the coins to get the lottery numbers. The chances of throwing to get the same 6 lines with the same moving lines (1 and 3) would statistically be amazing if I don't get 63 I get 29.6.
A friend once asked me to do the tarot to see if he would win on a horse. He cast and got 41.5. He saw this as a sign of good fortune. He put a large sum of money on the national
The horse fell and he won nothing

Supreme good fortune
His luck is ordained from on high

Xxx

 

[Trojina]

aha fate not gate....it all makes sense

hmm yes 41.5 ain't all it's cracked up to be...never forget the gua you are in ....so someone once said

 

[butterfly spider]

A rider to this however - my friend Paul did go on to run a very successful business and is now very financially sound ....

I have never cast this reading ... I just keep getting 29.6 - and 63.1,3 over and over - I am not financially sound!!!!

 

[butterfly spider]

I am feeling on the downward side of poor and have been sorting out my bank statements. Despite this and other family issues I am actually feeling positive - as if things are not that bad and that Spring is around the corner. Dreading hexagram 63 again I cast the coins - and got hexagram 14 unchanging. I felt like jumping singing ringing friends - almost akin to winning the lottery. I looked at interpretations of about 8 years ago and whilst I would like to think that my financial fortunes are going to improve - I think that hex 14 is more to do with my inner sense of happiness and good fortune. Bradford posted a lovely thread on this hexagram. Thank you.
Winning the lottery would be lovely but I think that the inner state of peace and the feeling that I am actually quite a lucky girl are truly great havings.
In the sense that hexagrams are positive or negative and the original thread - I do think that when a positive message is needed the I Ching does come up trumps sometimes.


Xx

 

[bryanmichaelstephens12031986]

hexagram 15 is lucky. kun over gen. its a very lucky combo. in numbers its 2 over 8. it means modesty. very lucky combo.

 

[bradford]

hexagram 15 is lucky. kun over gen. its a very lucky combo. in numbers its 2 over 8. it means modesty. very lucky combo.

I think you missed the point of this thread completely. Go back to the original post.

 

[legume]

A farmer named Sei Weng owned a beautiful mare which was praised far
and wide. One day this wonderful horse disappeared. The people of his village
offered sympathy to Sei Weng for his great misfortune. Sei Weng said simply,
"What makes you think this is bad?"
A few days later the lost mare returned, followed by a whole herd of wild
horses, led by a beautiful wild stallion. The village congratulated Sei Weng for his
great good fortune. He said, "What makes you think this is good?"
Some time later, Sei Weng's only son, while riding the stallion, fell off and
broke his leg. The village people once again expressed their sympathy at Sei
Weng's misfortune. Sei Weng again said, "What makes you think this is bad?"
Soon after, a war broke out and all the young men of the village except Sei
Weng's lame son were drafted and sent into a horrible battle. The village people
were amazed as Sei Weng's good luck. But Sei Weng only replied, "What makes
you think this is good?"

thank you so much for posting this! this is one of my favourtie Chinese tales and I actually just got into this thread to make a reference to this very story, as see so often people here, not only looking for either positive or negative outlook, but also wishing others good luck...

very happy it's been already mentioned!

 

[steve]

I had this train of though for many years, then one day i woke up and realised its advice, take or leave it, thanks mate you make a good point, i like your 39 observation looking sideways thats about it lol