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The other Hx.44

C

cheiron

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Dustin? off the ?other notebook??

There is so much humour in this hexagram... if your favourite colour is black and red that is...Deep thanks to Mr b for drawing my attention to the concept.

This is sooo long? and I don?t even begin to introduce my old friend the ?Dark Lady of Fate? ? She has many names... If you really do embrace her she is called Destiny... I call her Lady Starlight...(She comes to me when all is pretty dark) she is the opposite of Shen? can someone remind me of the word please?

BTW ? this is only one expression of Hx.44 ? I have enjoyed and most fully agreed with most of the other expressions recently online.

Looking at Hx.44 as one part of a pair?

43:44

Following (in a limited fashion) Karcher ?Total I Ching? 2003

This approach is, I am sure, not to everyone?s taste. Because of its strong use of mythical symbols it can seem ?foreign? to the essence of the Yi Jing as portrayed in careful translation and purport focussed on Chinese history and tradition.

Karcher refers to it as a ?bardo explorer? a method of slipping into liminal space where we dream and find connections? A place where rational truth and deductive thinking cannot enter but where we might explore the moment within us in a way which that part of the mind cannot.

The first thing to note is that this pair is one of the 28 pairs where the one is the same as the other but ?turned upside down?. Karcher suggests that these hexagrams are spaces where progressive change takes place. We naturally progress from one to the other in a natural progressive and regressive fashion? one to the other and back.

(The others have a different ?transformative? nature to them where we literally ?transform? with the whole entropy (energy) of the time reversing.)

Hx43 is the ?thought? of the moment? Break Through.

Hx.44 is the action of the moment ? Meeting the Lady of Fate.

?Break things up and you will necessarily meet a new fate. Accept this and use the energy of Coupling. This means encountering and meeting.?

The words ?Break out and then meeting the Lady of fate and grasping my destiny? come to my mind.

The next interesting thing to note in these two hexagrams is that the inner hexagram is Hx.1? The Creative? all that potential in both the inner and outer world? all creative energy. This means to me that there is a consonance between the inner and outer potentialities? the way is most definitely open!

Now a little personal story to introduce the Lady (or one aspect of her) ? Which might show that the lines between the bardo space and the concrete world are not quite so firm? it might also suggest to you that I am on leave from the special ward ;)

Quite some years ago a chronic health condition led me to (as last resort) seek out one of Scotland?s oldest healing springs? high in some hills? the health condition which was supposed to be incurable abated and went over a few years?but it could have been other factors sure? Anyway this led me to explore this ?phenomenon?. Gradually I began to find the way such a relationship works and the two sides of the contract? no forget Satanism and all that? it is really quite a nice contract where both sides become energised? Long story short there was something which made me uncomfortable and the Yi Jing told me it was time to break away from the spring and the 'Dark Earth Spirit' which was there (Dark as in Yi not as in evil)? by explanation it gave me Hx.44? see that dark line at the bottom? ? I was beginning to make the mistake of trying to marry the earth spirit and not merely have a wonderful intense but limited relationship.

To cap that story off? She gave me many gifts? go to the spring..ask for the blessing and gift? make an appropriate offering and a certain small, symbolic sacrifice in the Celtic gift fashion (representative carvings sometimes in silver and gold) and whoopedy dee? along came the result? scary at first? all those devil pact movies came to mind? nah, Christian dogma I?m afraid? scare the pagans and fill the Churches circa 400 CE (CE = Christian Epoch) in the UK.

Now if this is surprising or shocking you? go back and read something like Marshall?s Mandate of Heaven? the Yi Jing was born out of this way? it is just a little unfashionable in the UK after the arrival of some guy?s (and Gal?s) called Christian Monks.

So back to Hx.44... and reframing the above story as a ?dream? or bardo space.

In 43 We shattered the mould? step out of accepted ways? now free we can meet the destiny of 44.

Hx.44 ? Great sex with the Lady of Fate ? but be careful she is scary powerful!

Sex here means a number of things? relinquishing some control, taking and giving energy in a tense and charged relationship? becoming very changed by the relationship? and most definitely mating. There are warnings they will become clearer later when I cover the lines.

Of course you would not marry such a one? She is going to laugh in your face if you ask her (but see line 5)?she is meant for the Great King... but if you are strong she will let you undo her gown? you will never be the same again?

Going to the lines: (the quotes are from Karcher 2003) ? The commentary is mine.

Line one
?Coupling the Royal Bride Arrives
Attach it to the Bronze spindles
Wise words! Trial The way is open.
Have a direction to go. See the trap,
A bound pig balking at the sacrifice.
There is a connection to the spirits which will carry you through.

Commentary:
There you are? you broke the mould the obstructions? the bits are all over the floor, you feel happy and free? you go to bed and are about to drop off, thinking that was it, when the door bursts open and in comes the most powerful, beautiful and dread?full woman you have ever seen!
Trial (means divination) ? the Way is most definitely open!
See the problem! ? She is strong ? you want her but, hmmm? are you going to get through this night? ? How will you do it?
Believe me ? You look like a pig about to sacrificed and you are just a lot scared!
However you broke the mould ? you are strong and connected? stay sentred on your spirit ? you might even like this? BTW YOU ARE NOT THE ONE IN CONTROL HERE ? Leave or stay? choose now? last chance? you staying for line 2?? heheheh? good.

Line 2
?Coupled. Fish in the willow wrapping.
This is not a mistake.
Hospitality is not advantageous.?

You stayed? You kept your cool? I don?t want to even think about the brass spindles in the line above? Johnny Cash sang about them? oooh?
See Marshall (as ref, above) ? Fish wrapped in Willow relate to a wedding gift / preparation and inviting guests to the ?pre? ceremony ? Hell ? you think she is really going to marry you? Loose your silly après thoughts my friend!
She gave you more than you thought you were taking? light a cigarette and think about it?

Line 3
?Coupling with fate, buttocks without flesh.
Like Yu, he moves haltingly.
Adversity, hungry souls and angry ghosts.
Without the Great you will make a mistake.?

Well? perhaps you should not have stayed and had that cigarette?
She?s recovered and, well? you probably had an easier time than Yu ;)
Now you are limping just a little like him? hey he lost his sheep for this? what are you going to loose here? ? there is a price? another ghost in your thoughts eh?... You are perhaps pondering the moment when he was ?caught??heheheheh ? What is the price for this?
Adversity indeed? let me outa here? please! ? This is bringing back a lot of stuff.you thought you had buried ? she is reaching every corner of your being now!
But keep your focus on yourself? don?t loose it? this Lady is powerful? you do not want to upset her. You will get out of here alive? but the world will never quite be the same.

Line 4
?Coupled. No fish in the willow wrapping.
Trap! Rising up to action closes the way.?

So you?re still on that ?Big Brass Bed?
Believe me you ain?t thinking f marriage right now? heheheh?she?s given you quite a lot to think about? I?m sure your Mum will still recognise you? in time. ;)
And believe you me ?coupled? will never quite mean the same again.
Best lie quiet for the moment ? this is a pause? do something now and she might bite your head off ? this is new to you and when things are this new stay quiet and do nothing.
Hey? you could have gone to a Super 8 Motel ? but you ripped the map up and went Route 66. You chose to go to ?Hotel California?.
Keep your mind alive ? digest all of this moment ? it is a great gift ? learn this time ? it is a great lesson and gift.

You chose this my friend? remember Line One? ? No complainin? now.

Line 5
?Coupling. The Royal Bride.
Willow wrapping the melons, Jade Talisman in the mouth
Held in this containing beauty,
?It tumbles down from heaven.?

Cripes!
Different time and different space? you are the one my friend!
Jade in your mouth indeed? you have the words and the ideas that go beyond the concrete space time dynamic? this is truly your time?
She came into your room to eat you up? in that frozen beautiful moment when she stands in your doorway? she calls you King!
The great fecund melon of the moment ? and it is wrapped in willow as well! ? Such a gift from heaven!
You mate with the Lady of fate? and maybe? just maybe this Leonard Cohen?s ?Lady Starlight? is thinking of staying?
You are strong enough to handle this moment. Yeah!
Good on you bro? / Sister!


Line 6
?Coupling with your horns.
Distress. This is not a mistake.?

Version 1
Nah, you?re missing the point today.
She came in beautiful deadly and knowing? her straps ready to loosen? I know it was not going to be easy.. but you decided to play the hard guy?and what did you do?
You took her on? in her face? you made war!
Look where it gets you? Hx.28... and has she come as the Queen of Spades here?

Will you ever know what she would have taught you if you had moved to a different space with her?

You missed this moment but maybe you found something else.


Yup, I have met her a number of times? I know this? at this time I let my eyes go bright and fiery? I am not a victim in this space? I give hard? I get harder? the stronger I am the harder she gives out? Sure you limp a little afterwards? and she misses nothing.

It all started with breaking the mould in 43? or did it?

Sometimes you meet her first? and that really does break the mould of 43.

"You can check out any time you like ? but you can never leave? - Hotel California - Eagles. They got it ? You are transformed ? You are are different, in a transformed space and time. Hopefully you met the Lady of fate and formed your destiny.

From a survivor

--Kevin
 
C

cheiron

Guest
Ahh, Candid -
happy.gif


Thought about you as I wrote - gave me the musical and Route 66 references? thanks... I love that desert.

Sorry I was re-editing the last bit when you wrote? Is you?re answer in the new last para?

Next time I go down the ?66? I?ll call by? Maybe we can swop notes?

Maybe now I will only get to be the janitor? chuckles.

And the answer is yes? an exhausted yes? but maybe this time she will show me 63:64

--Kevin
 
C

candid

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Kevin,

44 comes to the living, not the dead. For this I suppose we should be grateful.

64 becomes 63... again.

Its ok, I think, to dream. Still.

C
 

cal val

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Kevin...

Thank you. I understand now.

Love,

Val
 

cal val

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I'm just going to go outside and light a cigarette now.

Love,

Val
 
C

cheiron

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Cigarette?

Val... It must be written all over your smiling face ;)- chuckles.

Just found a gross error in line 6 - Have re-editted - plus some minor changes.

Realy glad you found something in that 'liminal' version.

Warmly

--Kevin
 
Y

yellowblue

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Maybe 44 is also about rebirth (without dying)or even reincarnation after 28 and the reasoning seems to fall in line on a different level of LiSe's begetting an heir or a literal birth in this sense: these births follow in line, in tandem, whether it is a physical birth, reincarnation or living rebirth (baptism) in that they still have the "corner stone" in common... the basic "building blocks", and all these incorporate/integrate something new into the new "being".

Given that, in a sense, 43 resoluteness/break-through or speaking out (with seal)--- letting it be known (verbal maybe along with intangible verification) is more the sign of thought of the moment, more of a mental determination. or a bent toward what one has one's mind set on.

Maybe what is happening despite what seems resolute or "set", and in that sense what seems set in stone can be blown apart and reconstructed from the "shards" or "ashes"--what existed intangibly takes on a different form when it is realized in a sensible, tangible, form (sperm/43 to ova/44 equals neither 43 or 44 but ??). In this sense the mold of 43 is broken and through it's encounter, coming to meet, merging with 44 a new "life" begins...

I think of 44 as magnetism...weak attracts strong (negative draws positive in directive)in this given mileu.

44.1 at a distance feeling the pull it is not strong yet, not knowing what this attraction is one still feels it. Feeling the magnatism one knowns that it could become strong. It's human nature to want to slow or stop the powerful pull in uncertainty.

44.2 seizing it--- holding it. But what is the willow "trap" and what is the "fish". Very seductive.

44.3 feeling and struggling against the magnetic flow, trying to create the flow rather than going with flow. It's frightening not to be in control but not controlling and flowing saves the skin on your thighs or ass.

44.4 a reversal. It was in the realm and held but it's not now. Opposite spin, the willow tendrils do not hold it. Too late, the tail spin allowed it to go free.

44.5 Transformation, becoming one in the moment. You'll/it'll never be the same. Transmitting the magnetism, it is integrated. Fed with a jade spoon, what is taken within is transforming. (This changes into 50).

44.6 After the transformation. The essence is still there, but the power of the moment is lost. Never to be satisfied with less, once held by this nothing compares. How can one be satisfied with anything less?

Kevin, I really enjoyed your post, and it gave me a lot to think about. It helped me sort out my thoughts, which are above but probably not quite concrete, although close to being so.

I think all of YiJing, and a few other works follow the universal laws and they are grounded in nature and natural occurances. When something happens, a certain reaction takes place with variations that give it uniqueness, but always within the universal laws. Maybe when these were written the labels were different, but still saying the samething. And always one has to keep their mind open to see the variations from the small pebbles that fall into the water.

Deb
 
C

cheiron

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Deb

Thank you - I like what you have written immensely... Esp. your ? Fish ? Willow trap...

No, I could not quite catch it - But I think I prefer both of these 'flexible' 'liminal' portrayals as they inspire me to connect rather than to fix the idea in stone ready to be applied to whatever situation.

Yes, rebirth... nice one.

--Kevin
 
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yellowblue

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Thank you Kevin, I'm glad you like what I've written. Of course the "willow trap" came from Steve Marshall and his book has enlightened me tremendously and enabled me to comprehend so much.

No, with 44 it truly is very difficult to hold on to, even if it is held for a while...

bittersweet.

Deb
 

anita

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Kevin,
That was amazing. Can identify with that. Thanks. I suppose every woman would want to be her.

Best for your Quest
Anita
 

cal val

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Deb and Kevin...

I saw the rebirth, the eternity of rebirths, in the first post.

Love,

Val
 
C

cheiron

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Candid

You said, ?Ah but, would/will you do it all again... knowing??

My head was still in the other space (still trying to plumb the Hexagram) when I replied / mis-replied.

Did you mean avail myself of the Spring again?

(My previous answer referred to generally avoiding the Hx.44 space)

The answer is Unlikely or No for the Spring.

I would have no qualms showing someone else how to avail themselves of it.

I think I had worked through all of the lines to the point of 44.5 ? and that was right at the end? shockingly energy filled space... Huge energy flows both ways and curiously it felt very sexual.

After that the Yi said ?enough? this is no longer good ?you are depending on something which should be used not be depended upon? eg not married to.

So I developed a simple ritual with he advice of the Yi Jing and ?divorced? ? Very much like having at her with my horns? ever seen a Chinese ritual casting a spirit out? VERY noisy! (Though this was not a anything like an exorcism - Just an angry divorce.

Interesting though ? the whole time changed me rather a lot? opened doors in me and transformed my inner space and disposition.

So the last movement was 44.6 ? Maybe that is why there is ?no blame? in that line ? it is timely.

This led to a time of Hx. 24 Return. Which is the space when all of the lines in Hx.44 become their opposite? each line worked through as in the ?steps of change?. The creative tensions so strong and then the spark of line 44.6 flipping the entropy into its opposite.

I wonder is 24 the place where Deb's re-birth naturally leads too?

Finally as I write this I have just had an email from the very personification of the woman in Hx.44? is it two years since we talked?? She and I met at that time powerful and stormy stuff? transforming beautiful stuff? and I still love her lots and she me? but we never could live together? too much blood on the floor and walls!

Funny thing synchronicity.

--Kevin
 
C

cheiron

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Deb

Perhaps I saw something you did not write... regards fish traps.

No ?fish in the ?trap ?

See line 4... What might not be hapenning?

What could the fish and the trap be?

Could this be a subtle Chinese wordplay?

--Kevin
 
C

candid

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Kevin, funny thing it is, yes.

RE: 24 opposite 44. Where would we return from if not 44? Would there be a return to miss? I think 44 is unavoidable in the course of events. Might as well enjoy it and learn more about what can't be grasped.
 

heylise

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Kevin,
your story made hex.44 ten times as beautiful.
LiSe
 
Y

yellowblue

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Kevin,
Yes, I did intend the wordplay : ) but wanted to clarify the willow trap--

Candid,
It's rather difficult to enjoy from my standpoint. but maybe it can be 14, eventually.

Deb
 
C

cheiron

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Sorry

Someone emailed me and my mail filter programme destroyed it... just saw it as it was cleared... could you re-send please.

Thanks

--Kevin
 

gene

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Hexagram 44 being the opposite of 24, return, the two together form the eternal variations..starting with the rising of the yang energy, going to the rising of the yin energy. As such the energy is eternal and indestructible. Within the human frame is the governing vessel in which the yang energy rises from the base to the crown, and the conception vessel, in which the yin energy descends from the nose to the lower abdomin. When one cycle is completed another begins. Therefore, the name of the hexagram is "coming to meet." Or better, I think, "Contact." The yin energy contacts the yang energy. While the text says, "one should not marry such a maiden," it is in fact absolutely necessary that one does. In fact, it can not be any other way. (Not that the text does not have value and meaning in its proper contexts.) If electrons do not meet positrons, there is no electricity. If heaven does not meet earth, there is no cosmos. And if male does not meet female, there is no prospect for the future of humanity.
This is the point of contact. The lines all refer to various elements of contact or lack thereof. If there is no contact, there is no continuance of growth. If the yang energy does not meet the yin energy in the head, then there is no electromagnetic ingredient for the human and he/she dies. The proper thing to do is not to "Not marry the maiden," but to enhance and continue the cycle. Increase the yin and the yang proportionately. When contact is made via the right channels...in this case, line one with five, (since five is the ruler, and therefore the normal rule of correspondence between line one and four does not apply...) Then, "it falls to one's lot as from heaven." In one sense line four is too far away from line 5. Something must be done to shorten the distance. Or in electrical terms, the resistance must be neutralized. The problem with line one is that owing to having to deal with three other yang lines before it reaches the ruler, the yin line tends to throw itself away on other yang lines, before it gets to the one that it truly belongs to. I received line one in a reading the other day. The W/B version never ceases to amaze me, as terse as it is, there seems to be little hints of many different things. The commentary in part three says something to the effect that line one really needs to be led. In other words, the yin energy needs guidance to know which yang energy it belongs to. Taken to human terms, it, as other lines in other hexagrams indicate, the inferior man fares best when held in check, (guided) by the superior man. I don't fully understand this in Taoist tradition, at least not beyond the simple yin meeting yang, and eternal recycling. But I do believe the energy has to be channelled properly, and balnaced properly with the yang energy. A similar construct can be made for hexagram 43 and 23.

Gene
 

clove

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Gene...makes sense. yin benefitting from guidance to pick the correct yang... in certain tantric traditions the master will fix you up with a boyfriend, girlfriend... the master can scope it out, pick the right yin yang... this is not exactly culturally kosher, at the moment. getting fixed up by a teacher. if the yin does the chosing the marraige is 56, in terms of the cosmic coupling you are talking about. Bodhicitta rises from 44 1&5.
 
Y

yellowblue

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Candid,
Regarding 14, I'll try to elaborate, based on my experience---

I'll post on a new thread: 14 after 44

Sorry about not supplying a link.

Deb
 
Y

yellowblue

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Some more thoughts about this...

This isn't just about physical attraction although it plays a big role. It's about finding someone you're in tune who is in tune with you too, all the way around--- physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc.

Like any other hexagram we're given the ideal in the ruling lines.

Line 2 is encountering each other and line 5 is protecting and nourishing the relationship to enable it to ripen.

Deb
 

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