Reaction to a poem 29.1.3.4.5.6 -> 14

[compass]

Hi, I'm part of a monthly poetry-writing group that has been running for several years. At meetings, we each share a poem and the rest of the group discusses it. In recent weeks, I've written a very erotic poem but am a bit shy about sharing it and apprehensive of what the group's reaction will be. Although I've known these people a long time and some of them are my friends, still it can be very nervewracking to share poetry as it is such an intimate art & arises from very personal depths. (That being said, it is often easier to have poetry published in a magazine or a book to be read by complete strangers than it is to share it with close friends.)

So I casts the question: If I were to share this poem ('Origin of the World'), what will the group's reaction be?
The result was 29.1.3.4.5.6 -> 14

Hex 29 is Repeating Chasms, which is what I often get with questions about my writing. However, I've never had so many changing lines before, for any reading. I think Hex 29 speaks to my doubt and how I always question the quality of my work, despite the many published poems over the years; however, with all the changing lines, I feel there is a more nuanced reading afoot.

I would appreciate any interpretation on this casing.

Best wishes,
Compass

 

[Trojina]

Yang change pattern is 14, yin pattern is 8. With so many lines you don't generally really need to analyse each line even though of course the line is still saying something.

This is about sharing your wealth (14) and deciding where and with whom to share it (8). This is also to do with your relationship to the group

Don't spend too long deciding or the moment will pass (yin pattern can speak of the way through a situation).

Also don't spend too long or the moment will pass is what the 29 says to me. It's a risky ride, you're taking chances and what's more you can't plan ahead with 29, you're either holding your own in the moment or you aren't. 29 does counsel in the Image to repeat practice, and in the Oracle to 'hold your heart fast'. It's like kayaking down rapids or something, you have to be right there in the moment, nowhere else.

It isn't possible to anticipate what the group's reaction will be because it's an 'in the moment' event. 14, having, possessing, is very strong in the reading suggesting you share blessings and also appreciate them. It also indicates you are in possession of gifts. Will your share your gifts in the moment trusting the group or not ? What's the worse that can happen ?


For myself the way I receive a poem can depends on where I am when I first read it. Looking back it's interesting how my brain has picked out, of the millions of poems I've read, just a handful over the years I could repeat back to myself. I could look back and ask myself 'why did that poem matter so much in 1988 ? ' . A poem is a living thing once it's read and released. Do you want to risk it ? If it were my reading I think I would unless there was someone I was uncomfortable with in the group. I guess also it may make someone else uncomfortable ? I think maybe you need to consider whether you really are part of this group or not.


If it were my reading I think I would read the poem knowing it's my 'wealth' 14 and sharing is risky (29) expenditure of my wealth (14) but how do you feel about risk here ?

As a sentence it is 'Repeating Chasm's Great Possession' Hmm


Maybe that's even a reference to the nature of the poem itself ? Do you see that imagery anywhere in the poem ?

 

[Trojina]

Oh got the change patterns wrong, they are actually 13 yang and 7 yin, oh dear but I won't bother to change it since 14 is still very prominent in the reading so the stuff about 14 still holds.


13 yang and 7 yin, a communal thing that changes into more of a personal goal ? I think maybe you'll be taking the poem further than the group.

 

[my_key]

Hi Compass
Question: If I were to share this poem ('Origin of the World'), what will the group's reaction be?
The result was 29.1.3.4.5.6 -> 14

You arrive at this position of hex 29 having come through a situation that has meant you have had to invest a lot of yourself to keep things on track or from falling apart. You have invested enormously and deeply in this poem and it's reveal. However you have not quite been able to complete it all as you are having to face challenges here that you have had to face before in various guises.

The reading can be summarised as 'Darkness' through 'Great Harvest', using Huang's hexagram names. The sea you swim in is one that carries turbulent waves of how people will respond to you and you are urged here to be true to yourself and to cultivate the right principles of consistancy and purpose in you. Through this you can teach yourself and maybe even teach others how to be true to themselves.

The nuclear of 29 is 27 Nourishment, so something about this situation is being driven from that place. And of course when you are able to pass beyond the process of 29 you will arrive at a place of Clarity (30).

How are you going to do this?
Stay out of the pit below the pit - this will only trap you. (29.1)
You may already have stepped into this darker place - nothing good is going to come of it. (29.3)
What ever has trapped you, don't fight it. Take time to recuperate and see it for what it is. Open the window and let fresh air in. See what is nurturing and nourishing for you coming in through the window and move towards it.(29.4)
This will help you get through the position you find yourself in and begin with planning the next steps (29.5)
Just be mindful that if you wait too long and sit imprisioned by the doubts and the what ifs or rely on chance, or someone else making the decision for you then you will have kind of missed the boat The one that was sailing with your own choice of what to do in this situation on it.(29.6)

There is a sense that you have invested a lot in this latest poem, it has deeper meanings for you than many you have written and the sharing of this poem shares a part of you that maybe is not normally on display. There are aspects of sexual vs non-sexual intimacy and the safety of anonimity mingling with self esteem and confidence being tossed about in the rough seas of this situation.
There is only one person who can decide, right now, which is the best direction to take in swimming towards your own truth.

....of course, it may mean nothing like this at all to you

Good Luck

 

[Freedda]

If I were to share this poem ... what will the group's reaction be? The result was 29.1.3.4.5.6 -> 14

Hello Compass. I'd like to offer a different take on your question, by looking at the imagery/meanings of the trigrams - the two, 3-line symbols that make up the hexagrams (instead of looking at the Yi's text).

Here you have Water as the lower trigram, and with the two moving lines, it changes to Heaven. Water is also the upper, and its three moving lines change to Fire.

So overall, with Water twice with a lot of moving lines, my first thought is that you are likely to get strong, emotional reactions to this poem! (but I suspect you might already sense that). One assocation with the trigram Water is exposure, and perhaps that's one aspect here: that you are - or will - feel exposed in sharing this poem, and others will also feel exposed (in different ways) upon hearing it.

As you said, you have some apprehension - maybe fear - about sharing this poem. I think the lower, 'moving to' trigram Heaven might be suggesting that you look more closesly at your motivations and your goals for sharing this poem. There is no judgement here, nor a right or wrong answer or approach - only a suggestion that you look at your reasons for sharing the poem - which might help you decide if you want to share it, or perhaps more importantly, how you go about sharing it.

As I mentioned, the upper trigram Water suggests a strong, emotional response. It's 'moving to' trigram is Fire. Fire can be about shining a light on a situation, about seeting things clearly.

I think that here it fits - and works - with the trigram Heaven (below): that you know your goals, plans, motivations for sharing, but that you also might want to share your (internal) process with the poetry group - maybe as a precursor to sharing the poem. This way, they don't just hear the poem but they also understand your reasons - and even your fears and concerns - about sharing it.

Anyway, I hope that's of some use to you.

All the best

 

[mandarin_23]

And just to add, I think this reading reflects the intensity of your feelings, and also the fact that you are proud of your poem, and moved. It might be that the group will be scared or overwhelmed.

If there is an subtle advice in a Yin change pattern in 7, it might be to wait until you are asked to share your poem - for your position to be strong enough and you to be confident enough.

 

[compass]

Thank you all very much for your replies--they are really helpful and insightful. All of them have made me pause to ponder the situation. Although I am very tied to all of my poems, some moreso than others, like this one, as y'all have all pointed out. I started the poetry group 12 years ago, I respect many of the members' opinions and their poetry as well, and we are all very supportive of one another. So I do want to share the poem at next week's meeting, as to not do so, would be to miss the moment, as pointed out above. But I do realize my fear of their reaction is partly that I'm afraid I'll be more embarrassed than them, and also partly that I'm only one of three men along with 8-9 women who attend regularly. So I don't want to offend anyone I've spent many years sharing poetry with.

Yesterday I contacted two people from the group I'm closest with (both women) and asked whether they would be willing to look at the poem ahead of the meeting and get their opinion and go from there. If I do end up sharing it with the rest of the group, I'll probably add a little introduction.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it. I'll let you know in a few days what the reactions were.