Should I stock up on freeze dried food? 56.4 - 52

[rosada]

I see these ads for freeze dried food that can last 25 years. I am wondering if I should purchase some. I got 56.4, the wanderer having what he needs but his heart is not glad. That sounds like having a stockpile for times when there is a need, a time when one's heart is not glad. Then it changes to 52.Keeping Still. would that indicate the food would not be needed? Or perhaps that if one has such a stockpile they ought not let anyone know? Thoughts appreciated!

 

[Liselle]

Guessing... maybe it means how worried/paranoid are you?

56.4 to 52 - a traveller stilled. In the background is stilling, stability, lack of change, everything we associate with mountains and 52. But you are, or consider yourself to be, or are worried about becoming, a traveller, someone without stability etc. So you're asking what to do in that situation. (Line position 4, what is there to do.)

"Traveller in a place to stay,
Gains property and an axe.
My heart is not glad."

You have what you need. You might actually have more than that, in that most travellers manage a place to stay, but 56.4's traveller has also acquired property and some power (an axe is a tool and can represent power). But you're still unhappy or uneasy.

Unease is not completely unfounded - we saw a lot of empty grocery store shelves at the beginning of COVID, and supply chain problems continue to be a thing that exists.

I'm not sure what the advice is, if there even is any. There's no omen like "good fortune" or "pitfall." I don't know if Yi means:
a) You really do have everything you need, even if it doesn't feel like it.
b) You have what you need, but remember you're a traveller and things could change.
c) Would the freeze-dried food be the property and axe?

Are practicalities helpful? As in, if things ever actually would get to the point where you'd need freeze-dried food (that is, there's so little in the grocery stores, or somehow available from local sources, and for such a long time, that you literally couldn't cobble together meals), would you need a lot of freeze-dried food? Do you want to buy that much? Where would you put it? Also it might only help in a crisis where you could stay in your house with your stockpile to begin with.

As you can see, I don't know what to make of this. My knee-jerk reaction is the reading's saying there's no need to be that worried or go to such lengths. I listed item c) above but that's really not the order the phrases are in. It doesn't say -

"My heart is not glad.
Traveller in a place to stay,
Gains property and an axe."

In other words it's not, "I'm worried, so I'd better acquire some stuff." (I don't think, anyway.)

But as ever, readings are interpretations, not guarantees. Maybe trawling your journal and WikiWing and the forums for actual examples with known outcomes would help, or reading a few different authors?

 

[ontheroad]

I keep getting the question in my head....What is your motivation?
I feel the reading is saying that if you purchase them you'll never use them and wonder why you really did buy them in the first place.
A curious answer for sure.

 

[Atalanta]

Why do you want freeze dried food? If this answer is simply, "because it's on sale" I think the Yi is cautioning you against proceeding. I see 56.4 as being about someone who has acquired material goods without considering the more abstract emotional/psychological need behind that acquisition.

 

[Matali]

Hello Rosada,
I see 56:4 – 52 as a very direct answer: you will not like this food, your heart will not be happy, and this food is "foreign" to your needs... Indeed you earn products (the property) and an axe to prepare them, but it's not good... I completely agree with Yi freeze-dried products are not real food

 

[my_key]

I see these ads for freeze dried food that can last 25 years. I am wondering if I should purchase some. I got 56.4, the wanderer having what he needs but his heart is not glad. That sounds like having a stockpile for times when there is a need, a time when one's heart is not glad. Then it changes to 52.Keeping Still. would that indicate the food would not be needed? Or perhaps that if one has such a stockpile they ought not let anyone know? Thoughts appreciated!

Hi Rosada
The Wanderer sojourns from place to place in search of a new place of rest or test. Leaving behind each old place of residence hoping the next will bring a fresh awareness. The lot to the Wanderer is to be forever testing the water. The Wanderer's most important quality is to remain true and firm to their core beliefs and as such is not fearful to test new waters.

The challenge for the Wanderer is to stand firm in this power such that they can advance or withdraw without self judgement.

52 for me indicates more a sense of being at peace with the actions you take and is the mist that surrounds the context of your enquiry.

Q: Should I purchase some freeze dried food?
A: (56.4 <>52)Buying the freeze dried food or not matters little. Either way you'll live to tell the tale.Being at peace with the choice you make is paramount.

... or it might mean nothing at all like this for you.

Take Care

 

[rosada]

Wow, great answers, thanks folks! I am always amazed how one can think they’ve gotten the whole answer and then read something new from our group!
Liselle - I had never thought of the fourth position as indicating what one ought to do. Now I want to go through all the hexagrams to see how that applies! Cool. Plus the other insights - like in a food shortage crisis the traveler might not be able to take a huge amount of food with him.
Ontheroad - Maybe "What's the motivation?" came from The Wanderer wondering, "Where am I going with this?" Anyway, it's the right question and I think
Atalanta spotted the true answer - I'm coming from a place not of worry but from seeing all the ads coming up on my computer screen and the automatic reaction, "I don't know what it is but I should buy it cause it's on sale!!!"
Matali - Yeah, the "my heart is not happy" could very well mean, "my taste buds are not happy"!
So thank you all. I'm going to be 52. Keeping Still on this buying opportunity!

 

[rosada]

my-key - we cross posts. Thank you for your thoughtful discussion of the true nature of The Wanderer.
I think of the biblical verse, "Give us this day our daily bread," as saying one ought to trust in the Universe to supply one's needs one day at a time and to store up freeze dried food traps one into trying to stay safe instead of strengthening one's faith in being able to stay open and move forward with daily guidance.

 

[Liselle]

Liselle - I had never thought of the fourth position as indicating what one ought to do.

Learned it from Hilary, it's part of her line positions materials.

I think
Atalanta spotted the true answer - I'm coming from a place not of worry but from seeing all the ads coming up on my computer screen and the automatic reaction, "I don't know what it is but I should buy it cause it's on sale!!!"

You really weren't thinking about surviving Dire Apocalypses or anything, it was just merely because it was on sale? Sorry, but this strikes my funny bone. Now I'm imagining you buying 1000 lime green buttons if they're on sale.

 

[my_key]

my-key - we cross posts. Thank you for your thoughtful discussion of the true nature of The Wanderer.
I think of the biblical verse, "Give us this day our daily bread," as saying one ought to trust in the Universe to supply one's needs one day at a time and to store up freeze dried food traps one into trying to stay safe instead of strengthening one's faith in being able to stay open and move forward with daily guidance.

Trust the hunter gatherer in you. Surviving through their own skills on a day to day basis.