Re: Selecting a curriculum of study.

[Ovauden]

Hello,

I had began a curriculum of study a while back and then switched to another before having a bout with poor health. As my health has started to see improvement, I am unsure which curriculum to work through, and so consulted the I Ching to see what advice it has.

When asking if I should work through curriculum #1 (the first one I picked up a while back) I received hexagram 24 (changing lines 3 & 5) resolving to hexagram 63.

When asking if I should work through curriculum #2 (the one I switched to) I received hexagram 53 (changing lines 3 & 6) resolving to hexagram 8.

From how I am interpreting the readings, I can see both curriculums working to my advantage but am still not certain which one to go with.

If anyone may provide their own interpretation and/or what they think may be the best choice, I would be grateful.

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[Liselle]

Do your original reasons for switching from #1 to #2 still apply? Or since time has passed, are you starting from scratch?

For #1 - Returning's Already Across... are you leaning towards this one? Both "Return" and "Already Across" (or "Already Crossing") sort of sound that way to me. A decision to return that's already been made, or is in the process of it.

63 does say, "Beginnings, good fortune, Endings, chaos"... I'm not sure if that means the same thing will happen as happened the first time, to cause you to switch, or that you might second-guess it before you start, or maybe you'll have to keep thinking about why you started it in the first place, what drew you to it.

Maybe line 3 reflects some of the uncertainty in 63. "Repeated returning. Danger, No mistake." You can sense some danger (whatever that might be) in going back. But Yi says it's not a mistake.

"No mistake" might not necessarily mean you should do it, just that there's nothing wrong with doing it. "No mistake" can also be translated as "no blame," and Hilary wrote somewhere that it means no ancestors will be angered.

...ah, found one source anyway - Hilary's Language of Change document, which is very helpful and worth having. Here's part of what she says about this:

So being ‘without mistake’ means no blame can be laid. It might also imply that there is
nothing to alienate the spirits, and you still have full freedom of movement.

Line 5 - I think this sounds encouraging, or maybe it's what would be required to make a success of it. Great-hearted, noblehearted, magnanimous... maybe generosity somehow, or even some bravery? Depending on what it's referring to, it might also play into 63.


Option #2 - Gradual Progress's Seeking Union. For starters, 53 implies something that could take a long time, maybe much longer than you expect - does that make any sense? It can be about a tree taking root, for instance. Seeking Union can mean following natural inclinations, but it also requires commitment and willingness. You can't be of two minds, you can't be half-hearted.

The moving lines for this one don't sound terribly good, offhand. Line 3 - a man marches out and doesn't return, a woman ends up not raising the child, there are robbers to watch out for if anything is to be "fruitful." Hilary says in her book there are relationships here that need to be honored. Do you have any idea what any of that might refer to? Can you identify the robbers and figure out how to handle them, or whether you want to? It sort of leaves an impression that hexagram 8's needed commitment might be absent here, or might need a lot of effort to sustain - does that ring any bells?

53.6 - hm. I've had this in a reading about someone's will (as in last will and testament). Hexagram 53 can describe a marriage, and one impression I've gotten about line 6 is that, you know, people get married, find a home, raise a family, and then they inevitably die and pass things on to the next generation. It's not terribly encouraging for the future prospects of those individuals, but at the same time it's not terrible. The omen is "Good fortune," but maybe good fortune from leaving it behind? I really don't know how that might apply to a curriculum you barely started.

 

[Liselle]

Just had another thought - that 53.3 might refer to the interruption from your health problem. That's what happens in line 3, things are started, but then interrupted. A couple gets married, the wife possibly conceives a child, but then things are interrupted when the husband has to march off to war.

Then I wonder, since the reading jumps from line 3 to line 6, if somehow option #2 will prove hard or impossible to re-start, or that you just won't want to. Is option #2 somehow more damaged by the interruption than option #1? The contrast between "Return" for #1 ("you can return to this," in other words) and "Interruption followed by Leaving Behind" in #2... ?

 

[my_key]

The underlying energies exposed by the meanings and through the nuclear hexagrams may give you some further insights:

#1: 24 <> 63 - this has a meaning of 'reversing the way' and ' the setting right of things' with an underlying calling from Hex 2 and it's supple openness.

#2: 53 <> 8 - this has a meaning of 'the marrying woman waits for the man to act ' and 'delight' with an underlying calling from Hex 64 and it's exhaustion of the male.

So maybe
#1 - Changing your mind will set things right and allow you to experience a flexible openness.
#2 - Things may not go at the pace or in the way you expect. You will find delight but it will be at a cost.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

....or it may be nothing like that for you.

Good Luck.