Relationship question

[kaelin]

After reading Hilary's sticky on how to ask useful relationship questions1

I like a guy, and have been querying the I Ching about it in most of the wrong ways. Now I've asked: What's the best attitude to take with regards to this relationship?

And got 12.5.6>16.

Which actually is more positive than I would have thought, and is interesting, in that the stagnation and forced inaction turn into something so big that you could get carried away--to your own detriment or that of the other person--if you're not careful! Or, alternately, one could get carried away in a marvellous way.

The thing about tying stuff to mulberry bushes is a bit confusing to me. And also, it seems impossible to tell from line 6 whether the obstruction goes away--followed by a flood of feeling--maybe trustworthy, maybe not!--in 16, or whether the *relationship* goes away and the energy releases itself to go somewhere else.

And then, additionally, I just found out that it's not always correct to assume the relating hexagram refers to the future. Although, in this case, what with obstruction going away at the top of hexagram 12, it makes some sense that there would be a big flood of feeling afterward. Like ice breaking up in the spring.

Any insights would be welcome! I am getting used to posting questions/readings here, so if I'm being a bit too Enthusiastic in posting 3 in 2 days, forgive me.

 

[gene]

The idea of a mulberry bush is that we should proceed along the lines of the greatest caution. That is not necessarily bad, it just tells us not to be too hasty and expect too much too quick. In contradistinction to this, hexagram 16 tells us to "travel along the lines of least resistance," which doesn't negate line five, we just have to put the two ideas together to make sure that we do not try to hard to make it happen, but allow it to flow. That is the caution spoken of.

Gene