What can 63 mean in a situation that is anything but "completed"?

[angelatlantis14]

Hi Friends,

I have a reading here that is puzzling me...
Backstory: For quite a while I have been on a path of developing/healing myself from a life of low self esteem and numerous previous/subsequent bad experiences. This has been an intense part of my life for about the last four years. I have felt I've made some progress, but since quite a while (early this year) I have been hit with throwback after throwback - health crises, unexpected (and nasty) end of a long-term relationship, dropping away of support...
Yesterday, after another difficult discovery, I asked the I Ching in exasperation

"Am I on the right way to healing and health (am I on the way at all??)?
The answer I received was
36.5 --> 63.

Now the 36 part seems rather clear to me - this is a very difficult situation where my inner light is prevented from shining out (you can say that again, its the absolute truth ) and also line 5 seems like a reinforcement of that reading, and an encouragement to stay strong nonetheless.

The changing Hex 63 however puzzles me - it seems to say things are perfect now, be careful not to upset them - which is the farthest thing from my situation right now, at least as I perceive. Things are actually FAR from perfect and I would not know how I could upset this situation any more than it is?
If any of you could give my some alternate reading on 63 or any other insight in how to resolve this seeming contradiction, I would highly appreciate it!

thank you very much

maui

 

[gene]

I'm finding myself sucked in to doing more readings here which I intended not to do. This is the second one in the last couple days. But maybe things have changed a little, and maybe it won't be so bad.

Anyway, I had to respond to this one because here I think is a case where we are taking the words of the judgment a little too literally. I suspect too that you are using a translation that does not allow for a lot of the subtleties, (although no translation can possibly pick up all of it). The W/B version for hexagram 63 says, "success in small matters, Perseverance furthers." While one aspect of the hexagram may be that things are now in a state of perfection, there is an underlying current here that would indicate that things are more accurately in a state of equilibrium, and that the slightest thing can upset it. One must be constantly careful to maintain that equilibrium. The image for this hexagram says, "Take thought of misfortune and arm yourself against it." In other words the hexagram is saying, "Take care of yourself. Do all you can to maintain the equilibrium." Things are NOT perfect, they are just as good as they can be under the circumstances, but care must be taken to maintain that equilibrium.

Now let's look at line 5 again, as when there is one changing line only, that line takes on a very high priority, and the relating hexagram will usually correspond with it, and not have much of a different meaning. The commentary on line 5 says, "In order to escape danger, they need invincible perseverance of of spirit..." Can you see how the line and the secondary hexagram fit together? Sometimes it is hard to see the tie in and the connection, but... perseverance of spirit...

 

[diamanda]

I've had this exact reading in the past, when I was in a situation where, very realistically, there was nothing I could do to escape an extremely difficult situation. I did feel like a prisoner of circumstances at the time, and all I could do was to be polite so as not to aggravate the situation further. What happened in the end was that the "imprisonment" was soon completed/ended (63).

I take 63 in this cast to mean, a) do your best to keep equilibrium and not aggravate things, and b) this horrid situation will soon end.

I don't think it's the best time for you to seek healing of a deeper kind when you have immediate serious problems to deal with.

 

[angelatlantis14]

Hi Diamanda and Gene,

thank you very much for your thoughtful and kind responses.

Diamanda: what you said about "imprisonment of circumstance" strikes definitely a cord with me! Indeed the type of problem I have right now is one where I have very little influence (at least direct influence) on. So the message of keeeping the equilibrium, even, if as Gene correctly said, it is not the equilibrium of a perfect situation, but rather the equilibrium of the best it can be now (maybe the image of balancing on a high wire is good one as a comparison) seems like a good one.
What I will take away from your response is to be very careful in the immediate future and not take any rash steps in the hope of quickly dealing with the problem or aspects of it. There are some such steps I could take but I will now look extra careful at whether to take them now! Thanks for your encouragement!

Gene: thank you very much for reminding me of the connection of the fifth line of 36 to the overall message of 63. Once you stated it it seemed indeed obvious, but not so much before Yes, both of them give a very clear warning of keeping perseverance and also carefullness in this situation, and that rings absolutely true for me.
BTW, I do use the Wilhelm translation, which I find so far to be the best for me. Only I had overlooked/never looked at 63's the aspects which you pointed out in "Take thought of misfortune and arm yourself against it." I guess in the past I had reduced 63 to "Begininng: Good Fortune. End: Chaos" which from both yours and Diamanda's response I will now revise.
Lots for me to think about...
thank you both very much

maui