hi all,

i've been in a very dark place feeling confused and depressed. i have been thinking about whther to stay in my current situation, which is becoming painful but has been rewarding in the past, or whether i had better leave tp protect myself.
today i asked Yi : what if i leave? i got 33 unchanging. 'retreat' descibes my question, and i indeed feel an impulse to just withdraw and be alone. but is Yi confirming that retreating is recommended, or that i need to retreat from my question -- i.e. retreat from thinking about leaving?

i then asked, what if i stay: i got 31 unchanging.
can some one help me make sense of these 2 hexagrams?

Hello Soma,

I see that you are very troubled.

Both unchanging hexagrams reflects on your current thoughts. You want to leave and you think that it is time (Hex 33) . However, your mind is engaged and holding on to your current situation due to the rewards it has brought you in the past ( Hex 31).

You might want to ask Yi to comment or advise on your current situation.

And perhaps you might want to give thinking some rest. It's New year's eve!

hi tifa,

i'm not sure what you mean -- i did ask Yi about my current situation and got those hexagrams in response. and its those responses that i am seeking to understand.

I'll give it a try:

Hex. 33: the line I usually take to heart is: "The superior man, by keeping his distance from men of inferior character, avoids having to display wrath and preserves his dignity."

Hex. 31 could be about finding what it is that attracted you in the first place, either with this person/situation or with someone/something new. It also may be hinting at what it is you attract to yourself. (That would be a more new age interpretation.)

I would also qualify that with a caveat that it depends on the context.

If you were speaking of, say, a domestic abuse situation, the answer would obviously be unequivocal: Leave.

If, however it is a problem that you have been mulling over, chewing on chronically to the point where you can't see the elements clearly any more, then it might indeed be advice to pull back from thinking so much about it for a while. It might also be that you need time alone to come to the solution yourself (if you're getting all kinds of conflicting information from friends, associates). But I would think that would be more a secondary interpretation if the first interpretation, i.e., leave, really didn't apply.

Some valuable insights there.

I think the Yi is being very direct.

Leave? 33 unchanging. For the time being yes. A strategic retreat to build up your strength.

If you stay? 31 unchanging. This hex is about influence / attraction either of a mental, emotional or physical nature and how we respond to it. If we are to relate to the chemistry and magnetism of attraction, whatever the source it seems we have to try to maintain our inner equilibrium otherwise we will be tossed too and fro like a piece of confetti. If the influence is too strong and we can't relate to correctly either due to our own disequilibrium or through someone's elses then we need to withdraw either for a while or permanently.

My two cents.