Two Paths Diverging -- Hex 40 Unchanging and......

[arabella]

There are two distinct and divergent paths laid out before me now. Neither is really clear and both seem to have possibility. Each is a life direction well into the future in ways that I couldn't begin to predict. Both involve closing up my life here and relocating to another country. Sort of mentally "packaging" each one into a bundle and presenting what I know to the Yi, I've asked:

What is the result if I embark on pathway one: Hexagram 40 Unchanging

What is the result if I embark on pathway two: Hexagram 49.5.6 becomes Hexagram 30

Each of these alternative paths involves other people to some extent and a spiritual goal. But both of them are very much dependent on me being able to sustain the direction on my own. Hexagram 40 Unchanging seems to indicate that I'd have to be willing to just let myself go and trust in destiny. This might be potentially a great release, tremendous freedom to interpret the future and also the great unknown as anything could happen.

Hexagram 49.5.6 though suggests a bonafide transformation and I can visualise it better to be honest because it contains more known factors. I'm looking at hexagram 30 as possibly a way to become more enlightened as well, to clarify some of my life goals.

It doesn't seem like one way is automatically more beneficial than the other, but perhaps that one is more a known quantity. How would you see it?

 

[Trojina]

There are two distinct and divergent paths laid out before me now. Neither is really clear and both seem to have possibility. Each is a life direction well into the future in ways that I couldn't begin to predict. Both involve closing up my life here and relocating to another country. Sort of mentally "packaging" each one into a bundle and presenting what I know to the Yi, I've asked:

What is the result if I embark on pathway one: Hexagram 40 Unchanging

What is the result if I embark on pathway two: Hexagram 49.5.6 becomes Hexagram 30

Each of these alternative paths involves other people to some extent and a spiritual goal. But both of them are very much dependent on me being able to sustain the direction on my own. Hexagram 40 Unchanging seems to indicate that I'd have to be willing to just let myself go and trust in destiny. This might be potentially a great release, tremendous freedom to interpret the future and also the great unknown as anything could happen.

Hexagram 49.5.6 though suggests a bonafide transformation and I can visualise it better to be honest because it contains more known factors. I'm looking at hexagram 30 as possibly a way to become more enlightened as well, to clarify some of my life goals.

It doesn't seem like one way is automatically more beneficial than the other, but perhaps that one is more a known quantity. How would you see it?

40 uc is often like you already let go of this idea....so if theres nowhere to go with it...let it go.

49.5.6 also says this is already decided...well 49.5 says that...49.6 little measures are no good here. hex 30 you see this clearly, its where you are now


It seems crystal clear to me that pathway two is already the way you decided to go and the way you will go

Simples....boot pathway one out of the window and get on with pathway two without delay or shillyshallying


if I'm proved wrong I may be unwell for a day or two so try to let me know gently

 

[arabella]

40 uc is often like you already let go of this idea....so if theres nowhere to go with it...let it go.

49.5.6 also says this is already decided...well 49.5 says that...49.6 little measures are no good here. hex 30 you see this clearly, its where you are now


It seems crystal clear to me that pathway two is already the way you decided to go and the way you will go

Simples....boot pathway one out of the window and get on with pathway two without delay or shillyshallying


if I'm proved wrong I may be unwell for a day or two so try to let me know gently

Oh man, that last line made my day.........hahahahaha....know just how you feel, break it to me gently!

WOW on the rest of your interpretation. It's that clear huh? And I feel so torn and in a fog, weighing the variables this direction and that one. Of course, you never do know what's roiling in the subsconcious that will push the decision one way or the other. Right now I feel it could go either way and, practically speaking, there are factors out of my control that could tip either way.

Neither plan is a clear shot to be honest. And I was thinking that, spiritually, pathway one is almost a moral obligation. This will all play out one way or the other over the next two months T, so I won't be springing anything on you suddenly anyway....

 

[arabella]

Sorry for the deletions: the message posted three, count em, three, times?

 

[ginnie]

What is the result if I embark on pathway one: Hexagram 40 Unchanging

An internal liberation. A very thorough-going internal liberation would be the result. I take my interpretation partly from the fact that there is no relating hexagram. Implied is that you could manage to separate yourself from anything holding you back. So it seems I've taken the diametrically opposite position to Trojan's. I would have agreed with Trojan, except that your question was specifically about the RESULT. The result is that you will free yourself up.

What is the result if I embark on pathway two: Hexagram 49.5.6 becomes Hexagram 30

30 is your relating hexagram. You are hoping for a brilliant partnership. 49.5 is the 'change like a tiger' line -- you don't need to employ divination because you're so confident, or will be extremely confident, that this is the correct choice. Whatever choice that is, you will feel very confident that you are making the correct choice.

I have become rather skeptical about the lines referring to 'great confidence' in the I Ching. Having a lot of confidence is not the same as being on the correct path and doesn't say anything about the end result of the project overall. And sometimes with this line, 49.5, there comes a sudden switch when we change our minds about something completely.

Line 6 is the 'change like a leopard' line. It says that to advance now brings misfortune. "Righteous persistence brings good fortune to those who remain where they are," says the Blofeld translation. This would seem to contradict the plans to move to another country.

We really don't know the details of these two pathways, but it seems like pathway two will not carry you out of the country, but pathway one does have that potential. Going abroad has seemed for a long time like something you'd like to do, because you've mentioned it a couple of times. But the courage it would take to actually pick up and go! Anyway, pathway two seems to involve a sudden change of mind that keeps you where you are, whereas pathway one means you free or release yourself, or you solve the problem; you untie the puzzle of it.

 

[arabella]

The first scenario, the hexagram 40 is very much devoted to the feeling of breaking free, getting into something entirely different, starting over, and being useful in a place that would likely have more opportunity for me. Initially at least, my younger daughter would be somewhere nearby, but there is no guarantee she would stay on for the long haul. There are a lot of contacts who have cropped up in association with this move. It's to a rather exotic European locale -- at least in my imagination -- and we will see it in June most likely and make a decision if it's a good choice for either or both of us. It's a warmer place than here [most places are!] and not so structured a culture. The UK can be a bit oppressive in some respects, with so many rules nobody ever learns them all. And this place is much the opposite. The UK is very expensive to live in and jobs few and far between. The new locale doesn't promise jobs per se but is highly entrepreneurial and I might start up something of my own.

Second scenario is to return to France, sell up the place i own there and its contents and look for something in France that is more conducive to a person on her own. At least one of my kids, my mother, and my closest friend in the UK, are cheering for this idea, primarily because I was so in love with France when I went there in the first place. The expectations were unfortunately destroyed by the horrible man I was married to at the time. He is gone now, the house is empty, my youngest child is going there to help me sell the contents and make a few repairs that will make the place more saleable. And then I have to choose what on earth to do next. There aren't the same entrepreuneurial possibilities in France so far as I am aware. In fact, starting something of your own can be quite difficult. But the expense is so entirely different from here I would do more than get by on my income and probably have a very nice time if i could vastly improve my ability to speak French. The French people I already know and I find them wonderful. I know there are comments in various places about "snobbish" French people, especially in Paris, but don't believe it. I've never met anybody kinder or more friendly. But, of course, you have to bother to speak the language properly -- and that is my real deterrent as things stand. There is no way of knowing how I would have done in the situation without a spouse who was a millstone around my neck, an albatross. Maybe time there disposing of the house and contents would give me an idea what I'm capable of in France on my own.

I'm not really frightened of moving abroad. I've done it and, although I had a spouse with me, he was so pointless that it didn't really help me -- to the contrary -- and I had to do everything alone and in many cases wade through his rudeness and arrogance, mending fences with neighbours or workmen he insulted. So I am no doubt better off in this category.

My friend from here whom I enquired about various times over the past few years on Clarity calls every few days to assure me he wants to visit in France [as discussed on here recently]. And each time he is more insistent that he wants to be included and urges me not to sell up my home until he gets there, which I find a bit mysterious, but I've promised nothing. My attitude is that he is welcome, but I don't have loads of time to entertain. And I've made up my mind whether I am in France or not has nothing to do with him. If he shows up later, fine, and we can sort that out then. But he isn't my reason for going, nor my reason for staying here. He is a good friend, and I'm lucky to have that much.

What was a bit creepy though was that, as I was casting for the second scenario today, I had just started reading the result and he called saying, "So how's the plan for France coming on?" It did make me laugh, I must admit.

 

[arabella]

As I've read what Trojan and Ginnie have said, there are elements of both that hit home. Wish there WERE a definitive answer for questions like these! But it still comes down the "what resonnates." I can say that some elements are unknown at this point Does that affect the casting since there are missing pieces to the puzzle? And this is where I get a bit lost sometimes, wondering whether the Yi is pulling answers from my psyche and subconscious or whether the Yi "sees" where I can not go -- or haven't gone yet anyway.

 

[ginnie]

And this is where I get a bit lost sometimes, wondering whether the Yi is pulling answers from my psyche and subconscious or whether the Yi "sees" where I can not go -- or haven't gone yet anyway.

I am of the opinion that Yi exists independently and sees where you cannot go and know what you cannot know. For example, if there are other people in a situation, Yi is privy to the intentions and plans of everyone involved. But Yi seems never to cast the deciding vote when it comes to making up one's mind between various alternatives. Maybe this is the same as 'free will.'

 

[arabella]

I am of the opinion that Yi exists independently and sees where you cannot go and know what you cannot know. For example, if there are other people in a situation, Yi is privy to the intentions and plans of everyone involved. But Yi seems never to cast the deciding vote when it comes to making up one's mind between various alternatives. Maybe this is the same as 'free will.'

In that case, it would appear from what you have read, that hexagram 40 unchanging is the more favourable of the two readings because the result is breaking free of past constraints and all the previous scenarios I've tired. Whereas, the second reading results in feeling confident for a while, then completely changing my mind at the last moment? No matter what, I should clarify, I am leaving the country. I will either be in France [hoping to have sold up and moved into a smaller place] or on the Mediterrranean within several months. So there is no question about moving abroad -- it's just a question of where and in what circumstances.

 

[tigerintheboat]

In that case, it would appear from what you have read, that hexagram 40 unchanging is the more favourable of the two readings because the result is breaking free of past constraints and all the previous scenarios I've tired. Whereas, the second reading results in feeling confident for a while, then completely changing my mind at the last moment? No matter what, I should clarify, I am leaving the country. I will either be in France [hoping to have sold up and moved into a smaller place] or on the Mediterrranean within several months. So there is no question about moving abroad -- it's just a question of where and in what circumstances.

H40 simply unties the knot...it liberates and sets you free from the past and from ties. No value judgement, and also no value proposition implied...just Release.

H49 moves you into greater ties with the past and forces you to undergo Radical Change...it is an odd combination, to reconnect with all that family and past, and yet undergo a change of skin. Perhaps you need to change to be in that matrix of family and the past, and to still be yourself. A common person would fall back into small ways to deal with the change, but to be a superior man will require more than just adjusting to the situation. "You will need the leopard's self-assurance to move independently of all the small ones."

H49 Line 5 indicates that this is a strong path for you....nothing wrong with Release in the alternate reading, but the fact that it is unchanging says it is a static situation, and isn't going anywhere.

Tiger

 

[arabella]

H40 simply unties the knot...it liberates and sets you free from the past and from ties. No value judgement, and also no value proposition implied...just Release.

H49 moves you into greater ties with the past and forces you to undergo Radical Change...it is an odd combination, to reconnect with all that family and past, and yet undergo a change of skin. Perhaps you need to change to be in that matrix of family and the past, and to still be yourself. A common person would fall back into small ways to deal with the change, but to be a superior man will require more than just adjusting to the situation. "You will need the leopard's self-assurance to move independently of all the small ones."

H49 Line 5 indicates that this is a strong path for you....nothing wrong with Release in the alternate reading, but the fact that it is unchanging says it is a static situation, and isn't going anywhere. Tiger

You know Tiger, this is a fascinating way to look at the transformative qualities of Hexagram 49 because one of the issues I'm running into is a lot of lecturing from one of my kids on what how she supposes I should behave now and, depending on what opportunities present themselves, I could well run afoul of her demands. The thing is, I know she's right I've done some very dumb things as a younger parent, and a single parent. I've had a lot to learn and a huge load to carry -- with or without the mistakes. But if i hadn't made a couple of those "errors" my kids wouldn't be here! So there's that side of the coin. The psychologist-friend who has been helping me sort the past has advised my kids that this isn't their business. I got them here -- and I got them through it. And whatever the horrors of "trial and error" we've all had to endure, nothing was done with malicious intention -- it was just stupidity. And we have to go on. But I'm definitely going to have to grow another size to pick ANY of the choices coming my way. All of them are fraught with huge learning curves. I like my learning curves huge, so that shouldn't be a problem in itself. But how my kids react is another matter, although only the youngest is at home -- for a couple more months -- and nobody is going to be depending on me from here out. The two younger have more or less stood back and said, go for it. But the elder one is not in a kindly mood about what Mama might try next and is holding the past over my head. So, development and self-assurance could be a huge feature of what comes next.

 

[dancing white ferret]

I agree with Trojan on this one. I just asked a question about moving and got 40UC. I had a fight with my roommate and thought I might have to move. The exact question was "How will this affect my living situation?" and I was thinking in terms of "Will I need to move?" and it was a no, don't go there. Let it go. Things are back to normal, and I will not be moving.

THE JUDGMENT

DELIVERANCE. The southwest furthers.
If there is no longer anything where one has to go,
Return brings good fortune.
If there is still something where one has to go,
Hastening brings good fortune.

Sounds like it is saying France. "Return brings good fortune." As in, return to France. Or, quickly take care of things, and stay in the UK.

I think it is saying, forget it, either move to France or stay where you are. I say France. I've heard great things about France, and sounds like you like it there, Arabella. Good food. Love French pastries. It's worth it for that alone

 

[tigerintheboat]

Becoming Clear about Seasonal Change

You know Tiger, this is a fascinating way to look at the transformative qualities of Hexagram 49 because one of the issues I'm running into is a lot of lecturing from one of my kids on what how she supposes I should behave now and...So, development and self-assurance could be a huge feature of what comes next.

Bradford uses the words "seasonal change" to translate the name of the hexagram, and he also notes that it can be translated as the shedding of skin.

I think the very first translation of this hexagram I learned was "Revolution." Bradford and Hilary helped me better understand that we are not talking about radical change as revolution....we don't think that the leaves changing color in the fall is a radical change...we see it as a seasonal change, although for the individual leaves, it is a one time event, a radical change. A leaf and a whole tree goes through the seasonal change...I find it a joy to behold...to me trees are beautiful when they are green, and also when they are bare on the winter, and all the times in between. But how does the tree experience the transformation, and what of the individual leaf?

It is like Yi to speak of the psychological, rather than predict the future. The family dynamics will probably consume a great deal of energy and force you to either "act like a leopard" or you will be constantly being bombarded by everyone's needs and opinions. Will you have to put on a different skin to go back to being the "mother"? And there is the experience of France, the potential snobbishness and the need to speak excellent French to gain acceptance. This is another situation to work through, taking much of your energy in dealing with others of you do not, somehow, rise above it. (Does a leopard pay much attention to the opinions of small animals around him?)

I don't think Yi expresses an opinion here, and thus neither do I. But I think that you might consider whether H49 is the seasonal change of returning back to be closer to your family. That seasonal change may be inevitable, now or in the future.

Try some of these images on (like accessories, or a pair of sunglasses) and see what happens:

"Seeking Clarity through Radical Change"
"Becoming Clear about Seasonal Change"
"Approaching Seasonal Change while being as clear as possible"

You can probably make some more of your own.

Tiger

 

[Trojina]

Bradford uses the words "seasonal change" to translate the name of the hexagram, and he also notes that it can be translated as the shedding of skin.

I think the very first translation of this hexagram I learned was "Revolution." Bradford and Hilary helped me better understand that we are not talking about radical change as revolution....we don't think that the leaves changing color in the fall is a radical change...we see it as a seasonal change, although for the individual leaves, it is a one time event, a radical change. A leaf and a whole tree goes through the seasonal change...I find it a joy to behold...to me trees are beautiful when they are green, and also when they are bare on the winter, and all the times in between. But how does the tree experience the transformation, and what of the individual leaf?

It is like Yi to speak of the psychological, rather than predict the future. The family dynamics will probably consume a great deal of energy and force you to either "act like a leopard" or you will be constantly being bombarded by everyone's needs and opinions. Will you have to put on a different skin to go back to being the "mother"? And there is the experience of France, the potential snobbishness and the need to speak excellent French to gain acceptance. This is another situation to work through, taking much of your energy in dealing with others of you do not, somehow, rise above it. (Does a leopard pay much attention to the opinions of small animals around him?)
I don't think Yi expresses an opinion here, and thus neither do I. But I think that you might consider whether H49 is the seasonal change of returning back to be closer to your family. That seasonal change may be inevitable, now or in the future.

Try some of these images on (like accessories, or a pair of sunglasses) and see what happens:

"Seeking Clarity through Radical Change"
"Becoming Clear about Seasonal Change"
"Approaching Seasonal Change while being as clear as possible"

You can probably make some more of your own.

Tiger

right so the entire population of France are snobbish and like 'small animals' compared to...... the US citizen, Abella, which is the leopard !! ? She could always go back there at least she'd understand the language !

 

[arabella]

I guess i should clarify, I am lucky to qualify for three citizenships and two passports [which is the maximum i could have at the moment] and I feel really lucky to be a citizen of the world. So I wouldn't want to promote any feelings of superiority any place. The UK feels like home by now, although all of my "beginnings" were in the USA. But I was always aware, coming from a family where England and Ireland were looked on as "our roots" and where my Dad was traveling the world for his work year after year, that the rest of the world was there and would welcome me if I bothered to show up. I didn't have the isolationist feeling that some have in the US where so few even have a passport and there is, quite honestly, every material thing a human being could ever want. To be honest, most people in Europe say to me -- "If you could be in the USA, what the heck are you doing over here?" Because they'd leap at the chance to live stateside.

Every place has its personality, its benefits and drawbacks. It's rather individual what "works" for someone who didn't grow up there. And you can't anticipate that. I was sure I wanted to live in Spain for most of my life and speak fluent Spanish, but I had a really hard time the years that I lived there. I'd heard all of the "snobbery" horror stories about France and found none of it to be true. I don't know where they came from. If I started listing all the wonders of France and its culture, I could go on and on. It wasn't easy being accepted in the UK -- which as an English speaker with a family who came from the British Isles just a generation ago, I thought would be "automatic." It wasn't. But once Brits are your friends, you have real friends and they wouldn't let you down. Brits seem to have a hard shell, but are probably the most "fair" people I've ever met. There are no angles to be played and you can see where the English court system came from in that you wouldn't likely escape on a "technicality" here if you are a criminal. There is a huge sense of honour.

And I don't know why I am saying all of that, except that each country is different, none superior. If you a have a chance to live abroad from wherever you began, you soon find out that people are far more alike than different. What is different is fairly superificial in relation to wanting peace, happiness, and a chance to raise children in security. Everybody wants that. The rest is window dressing really, with interesting quirks of personality, colour, costume and of course a distinctive history and artistic life. But underneath is so much the same. The travesty is to discover in how many ways freedom and equality are a "luxury" item in some places. If there is something that needs to change, this is where the world has a responsibility. Not this country or that one, but the whole world together, needs to evaluate what has gone wrong that anybody can be a slave to anybody else for any reason.

So far as the Yi and hexagram 49, I see a lot of myself in that one; and a lot of what is going on in my family. Somehow the tables have turned as my children became adults and, as I've admitted my mistakes and they have yet to make theirs I am being lectured by the eldest that I need to get my act together. And I do. But not because someone else says so, but because I already realise that I need some stability in life. I've taken huge chances and overcome immense odds to even be here any more. But that has to stop. I've learned that a lot of stepping off one cliff after another and landing on a gigantic mattress is the product of emotional anxiety. So transforming that is also part of the transformation.

Of course when I think of it I can see shedding and seasonal transformation as coming into a stage of life where I am to consider myself again after years of considering my children first. Although they would argue that point! But it is true, even where they didn't think so. It's hard switching gears now with far less money, youth or energy and saying, right, you're on, it's your turn. Now, out here in the middle of nowhere, with practically nothing to work with -- what is your dream?

And the issue remains -- how to communicate? Which is the clear responsbility of the guest and I am really annoyed when I see people show up and expect everybody to "speak English" because they do. I've seen this shouted in the faces of Spanish people, for instance. It is humiliating for all English speakers everywhere.

In any case, I want to know the language of France. It is stunningly beautiful to me. English is dynamic, poetic, and forceful. French has its own beauty and lyricism, like music. And, having produced opera especially, that means a lot to me. So I am attracted to that. In short, it is no burden, no issue whatsoever. I just wish i were smarter and had several more lifetimes to acquire language skills!

 

[arabella]

I see the main energy of dealing with the "smaller animals" that Tiger speaks of as dealing with what happens to my family now, to the "cubs" who are larger and more powerful than I physically and establishing their own territory, but also conveniently playing and childlike again when they want help. And, yes, being the "mother" has taken on a whole different tone. I have to, in effect, reestablish myself as deserving of respect, at least in the eyes of my eldest child who is ready to have a tantrum if I transgress any of the boundaries she has put around me. In relation to my personality, the biggest thing I have to watch out for is not to shred those boundaries she has proposed to place around me, just to make a point. I need to do what is most sensible for my own sake, within my means and strength. For the most part, this will amount to just ignoring her dictation. To make a point of leaving, just to do it, would be foolish. But, in any case, I have to make it clear that I am not planning to swap roles.

 

[tigerintheboat]

And the issue remains -- how to communicate? Which is the clear responsbility of the guest and I am really annoyed when I see people show up and expect everybody to "speak English" because they do. I've seen this shouted in the faces of Spanish people, for instance. It is humiliating for all English speakers everywhere.

In any case, I want to know the language of France. It is stunningly beautiful to me. English is dynamic, poetic, and forceful. French has its own beauty and lyricism, like music. And, having produced opera especially, that means a lot to me. So I am attracted to that. In short, it is no burden, no issue whatsoever. I just wish i were smarter and had several more lifetimes to acquire language skills!

Just to note that I misread your earlier post, you only said you had "heard" about the snobbishness of the French, but you had not personally experienced it. I thought I was simply repeating your words, and apologize to you for misquoting you and anyone else offended...

The beautiful French language is an obstacle to an outsider...my wife kept trying to ask for a "Grand Marnier" at the Cafe de la Paix in Paris...she kept repeating it, saying the words like an American, and the waiter couldn't make any sense of what she was saying. My wife just assumed that since the words were the same in both languages, the waiter would understand her, but she had no sense of French pronunciation, and he had no ear for American English.

Tiger