What is the impact of the herbs mom's taking on her health? Ans: Hexagram 48.3 to 29

[Anna_C]

Hello all,

I am the primary caretaker for my 90-something elderly mother and sometimes I struggle whether to follow medical protocols recommended by her Western doctors or those of an alternative care specialist who practices Eastern medicine which involves taking a myriad of herbs, each addressing various health issues. Recently she has been experiencing what appears to be really tough musculoskeletal pain that is preventing her from getting around, even within the home. She has had joint issues for years but they are now much more painful. I asked the impact of the herbal remedies on her health overall (she takes them for several other issues and is now being recommended new ones for the aching joints) I wanted some certainty on their impact overall and received Hex 48.3 to 29. After reading some of the resources on this site my first reaction is that Hex 29 is speaking to the fear I have should my mother become less mobile and how life for her and for me will change as a result. Also, that as her body continues to become weaker with age, I will continuously be trying to seek solutions/answers to make her more comfortable.

Both 48 and 29 seem to point toward depths (The Well and Repeating Chasms).

In the hexagram essays, I found some insight that seems relevant:

So receiving Hexagram 48 is often a sign that there is real work to be done. Its roots lie in the desperate isolation of Hexagram 47, Confined. One who experiences Confinement is like a tree hemmed in on all sides by walls, unable to trust the words that connect them to others or make sense of the world. And so she (or he) is cast back on her own inner resources – where Yi hints that she will find some transformative ‘mutual encounter’ at the heart of the experience.

I'm just not sure how this all relates to the question of the impact of the herbs on my mom's health.

I welcome any help with interpretation. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[rosada]

48.3 talks about the well being cleaned but no one drinking from it. So would that mean something helpful is not being used? Maybe there are herbs out there that would be more helpful for your mother's situation than the ones she is now taking? Or maybe there's another healing modality - like doing tai chi - that would be even more helpful than the herbs? Or maybe 48.3 is saying what she is doing right now with the herbs is great and it's too bad more people don't know about this. Whatever, it doesn't look like anything bad, just that something could be better.

29. Is about facing life's uncertainties again and again until finally we realize we can't change things by worrying about them and start living with the confidence that whatever happens we've survived it before and we'll survive it again.

 

[Anna_C]

Thank you so much, Rosada! Your interpretation of 48.3 is very helpful. I am inclined to think that the message is to keep searching and perhaps the latest recommendations by provided by the Eastern practitioner will better get to the root of the pain, rather than just stopping the pain as we have been doing.

As for 29, your words resonate deeply. There are so many uncertainties right now, and in all different parts of my life. The advice to remain confident that we can weather it is beautiful advice for all areas of life.

Many blessings.

 

[diamanda]

herbal remedies impact on her health overall - 48.3 > 29
The king (person of authority, in this case Eastern doctor) is mad and unclear in his head. This will lead to danger. These herbal remedies are affecting her negatively.

 

[rosada]

Diamanda, Could you please post the translation you are using?

 

[diamanda]

Rosada - the classic Wilhelm one.

 

[moss elk]

This is from Bradford's Yi Jing-book Two, on the commentary.

qiu2 ~ Seek, solicit, ask, beg (after, for) entreat
wang2 ~ (the) sovereign’s
ming2 ~ enlightenment
shou4 ~to receive
fu2 ~ (the) abundance

He makes that into the following English:

"Were the sovereign made aware, all might receive of this abundance"

To me this sounds like both doctors need to be told everything the other is prescribing, and everything that is going on with her.

 

[Trojina]

I am the primary caretaker for my 90-something elderly mother and sometimes I struggle whether to follow medical protocols recommended by her Western doctors or those of an alternative care specialist who practices Eastern medicine which involves taking a myriad of herbs, each addressing various health issues. Recently she has been experiencing what appears to be really tough musculoskeletal pain that is preventing her from getting around, even within the home. She has had joint issues for years but they are now much more painful.

Without Yi I'd beg you to follow the protocols of the western Drs as they know how to handle pain and if she is in pain there is nothing worse for her health than that !

A while back my mother, 90, was in excrutiating back pain and her acupuncturist kept on charging her money, giving her herbs and doing a bit of physical manipulation on her. Hmm all the while this is costing money and I'm thinking she needs to find out what this is. So she had an xray and they found a fracture in the vertebra.

Now these eastern practitioners may have been okay for her chest problems with their herbs, they had been treating her for years and she believes in them. However they did not actually know what was wrong with her till we had the X ray. By this time she was literally screaming, said it was the worse day of her life....and then thank God she accepted some decent pain relief and now wears a patch for pain.

Her pain is your priority is her pain, not getting to the 'root cause' I mean at that age they do have things wrong as you know that won't be holistically healed.

She has had joint issues for years but they are now much more painful. I asked the impact of the herbal remedies on her health overall (she takes them for several other issues and is now being recommended new ones for the aching joints) I wanted some certainty on their impact overall and received Hex 48.3 to 29. After reading some of the resources on this site my first reaction is that Hex 29 is speaking to the fear I have should my mother become less mobile and how life for her and for me will change as a result. Also, that as her body continues to become weaker with age, I will continuously be trying to seek solutions/answers to make her more comfortable.

I think it's kind of the wrong question, she clearly needs more help right now and soon ! I can't see you can afford to be experimenting with herbs if she is in severe pain. Western medicine does treat pain well, pain itself makes any condition worse, pain relief is an important part of healing. Pain relief should never be subject to holding to ideologies about eastern v western medicine.



48.3 says it's a great shame that there's help available and you aren't using it fully. Well that can't refer to the herbs as you are using them. Get proper western pain relief.

Thank you so much, Rosada! Your interpretation of 48.3 is very helpful. I am inclined to think that the message is to keep searching and perhaps the latest recommendations by provided by the Eastern practitioner will better get to the root of the pain, rather than just stopping the pain as we have been doing.

I think this would be a wholly inappropriate, even cruel way to proceed not that I'm saying you are cruel you are clearly very caring.. She's in her 90s get her the pain relief she needs. it's crazy to go on looking for more help from eastern practitioners. I'm afraid I think searching for other healing modalities such as Tai Chi is crazy with a woman of that age I really do.


She could have a far better quality of life if you would get her some decent pain relief. If you want to try eastern medicine after she's out of pain fine...but please get her out of pain.

 

[moss elk]

searching for other healing modalities such as Tai Chi is crazy with a woman of that age

As a person who takes medicinal herbs and practices Tai Chi,
I endorse this message.

 

[Trojina]

what message...? I can't tell what you are endorsing. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing with me ?


No reason 90 year olds can't have Tai chi and herbs as such. My mum still has her herbs from the acupuncturist (although still has to have antibiotics for her chest) but she also has western medicine and if she didn't she wouldn't have a very enjoyable life. If I suggested tai chi instead of her pain relief it would be a total disaster.

I'm also pissed off they, the chinese acupuncturists didn't press her to get checked out but kept manipulating her. They shouldn't have done that, irresponsible. They don't have x ray machines and shouldn't be diagnosing what they can't see.

 

[moss elk]

I can't tell what you are endorsing. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing with me ?

 

[rosada]

48. 3
The well is dredged. No drinking.
This makes my heart ache.
It can be used to drink water with the king's clear vision.
People together accept the blessing.

I don't think either the IC or I said this means the woman should substitute tai chi instead of western medicine for pain relief.
The question was about what effect the herbs were having on the mother's health.
What I said was that it seemed to me hexagram 48.3 was saying that there was some effective healing modality out there that was not being fully utilized. I then gave tai chi as an example of what another healing modality might be. I was not recommending it or saying that the I Ching was recommending it. I was just saying 48.3 makes it appear there is something out there more effective than what she is already doing. I could have made the same point giving drinking more water as an example of an alternative modality or perhaps an alternative modality would be different herbs or maybe Western pain killers or maybe even...tai chi! But the bottom line is, in answer to the question what effects are the herbs having, I think the I Ching is saying there is something other than the herbs that could be helpful.