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Blog post: Hexagram 8 musings

hilary

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Hexagram 8 is called*Bi *– ? – a very ancient, simple character that originally depicts two people side by side. It implies both that they’re together, and that they can be compared to one another, and so the word means belonging, seeking union, holding together,*comparing, neighbouring, side-by-side… really, to translate the name of the hexagram we need a single English word for*‘the-desire-for-union-that-inspires-comparing-and-hence-sensing-affinity-and-hence-being-drawn-to-belong-and-stand-together’.
Yi says,
‘Seeking union, good fortune.
At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.
No mistake.
Not at rest, coming on all sides.
For the latecomer, pitfall.’
So the first thing to know about Seeking Union is that it is*lucky, it is blessed – just in itself, with no added conditions.
Next, that this is the ‘origin of consulting the oracle, from the source, ever-flowing constancy, no mistake.’ Since ‘constancy’ also refers to divination – to the whole act, from insight to carrying that truth through into the world – this section*reads as a single statement about divination. Richard Rutt groups the words slightly differently, and translates,
First divination: supreme [offering].
Long range augury: no misfortune
There is an immediate initial connection to the divine, and then what flows from there, how it works out over time, is without mistake.
Only… what has that to do with Bi? What connects
‘Seeking union, good fortune.’
with
‘At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.
No mistake.’
And come to that, what connects either of them with,
‘Not at rest, coming on all sides.
For the latecomer, pitfall.’
?
To begin at the end – those lines about the restless ones who come, and the pitfall for the latecomer, allude to the story of Yu the Great. After decades of hard toil, he had conquered the floods, and he called the lords and spirits together to found a new world. The character translated ‘on all sides’ is*Fang, and it was*Fang Feng*who came late to Yu’s gathering and was executed. (Fang Feng was a ruler of winds, that blow to and fro; in practice, in readings, there’s often a demon of indecision and procrastination to be dealt with.)
Wilhelm explains the underlying natural logic of this: the straggler who arrives after bonds have already formed between people is automatically excluded. The story of Yu further suggests an*act of exclusion of whatever doesn’t belong. Really, these are ways of seeing the same thing: Yu is the embodiment of the group’s natural inner power of cohesion and attraction, which excludes the hesitant latecomer.
Yu’s flood work, that makes this Union possible, was to cause the rivers to flow over the earth to the ocean – you can see this in the component trigrams of Hexagram 8, which show flowing water above, earth below:
8.gif

(You might also see the ‘story until now’ in the preceding hexagrams of the Sequence.)
Yu separated earth from water, and he also separated people from demons*separating earth and water; separating people from demons. According to stories*cited by Anne Birrell in Chinese Mythology, he both killed and banished demons, and also forged vessels to represent hostile beings:
‘He forged cauldrons in the image of these creatures. He took precautionary measures against all living things on behalf of the people, to make sure that they knew which were the malign spirits. Therefore, when the people went on rivers or entered marshes, or went on mountains or into forests, they never came across adverse beings; neither goblins nor trolls could ever run into them.’
It seems to me that Yu’s work was to bring together what belonged together and separate out what didn’t – that he did*comparing-contrasting work.
To do this*bi work, you have to be able to identify what belongs – and this is where divination comes in. The core line here:
?????
Yuan shi, yuan yong zhen
Origin(al) oracle-consultation, source/supreme ever-flowing/long-range constancy/augury
(Those are two different characters both pronounced yuan, and with overlapping meanings of ‘original source’. The first of them means specifically the source of a spring, and*yong ‘ever-flowing’ in its oldest form shows a human figure swimming in the current of a river – the watery imagery a reminder of Yu’s labours.)
The oracle consultation referred to here is clearly, specifically divination*with stalks: the first such divination, its origin. Why stalks, not the more ancient tortoise plastrons? Could it be because the tortoise oracle says, in essence, either ‘Yes, the spirits are with you in this idea of yours’ or ‘no, they aren’t’, but the stalks say, ‘Here is an image of how it is’?*Like Yu, Yi makes images for us so we can recognise what we’re seeing.
I think that’s what we really ask Yi for: a picture, a pattern for comparison. ‘What’s happening?’ ‘Here – this is.’ ‘What if I did this?’ ‘You’d be doing this – here, have a look.’ We look at the picture Yi offers and recognise the pattern it invites us to see. ‘Oh,’ we say, ‘It’s like that.‘*We get a feel for the situation; we get the picture.
Looking back for a moment through the Sequence: Hexagram 6, where the waters rage below heaven, says, ‘No, not that!’ Hexagram 7, where the waters flow under the earth, gathers energy around that unacceptable thing in order to resolve it. To switch metaphors midstream, Hexagram 7’s creative centre is like the grit in the oyster. Hexagram 8 is more like*the formation of a crystal: it has an*inner organising principle.
The*Zagua*(Contrasting Hexagrams) says Seeking Union is joy and the Army is sadness or anxiety. I’ve just realised this doesn’t only refer to how the hexagram makes you feel, but also the nature of its motivating force: one says, ‘No, not like that,’ the other says, ‘Yes, like this.’ (But as the Xugua*(Hexagrams in Sequence) indicates, awareness of ‘like this’ is an emergent property of the crowds Hexagram 7 gathers.)
‘Seeking union, good fortune.
At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.
No mistake.
Not at rest, coming on all sides.
For the latecomer, pitfall.’
To Seek Union, to compare and see what belongs together, you divine to see the pattern and inner nature of things. From that original awareness flows a consistent, cohesive way of being; everything – people, ideas, actions – will hold together and will not fall out of alignment. This alignment works like lines of magnetic force to draw*people towards you, just as the many beings came to Yu’s gathering to found the Xia dynasty, and just as many potential allies were drawn to the harmonious realm of the Zhou in their early days under King Wen. And for*those who hesitate and come late – pitfall.
snowflake8.jpg
 

Liselle

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Another (unrelated, and tentative) thought about hexagram 8, that it might have elements in common with the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.

God banished Adam and Eve from Eden because Eve failed to resist temptation and ate an apple. Fang was executed because he hesitated and was late. Both of those seem like vastly outsized punishments for the "crimes." All of humanity was banished from Eden forever because Eve...ate a piece of fruit? And Fang was killed for being tardy? None of that is very logical, so maybe logic isn't the point; maybe obedience is the (or "a") point.

Hexagram 17, which is mostly what I've seen people associate with obedience, isn't in the "context-map" of hexagram 8. But hexagram 7, the Army, is - it's both the Sequence and the Pair. Armies can't function without sometimes-rather-blind obedience - people following orders, whether or not they make much sense.

7.6 leading to 8:

'The great leader has a mandate
To found a state and receive the households.
Don´t use small people.'


'Seeking union, good fortune.
At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.
No mistake.
Not at rest, coming on all sides.
For the latecomer, pitfall'.


Maybe 7.6 represents a test, or test-time - if you pass it, you will be allowed to participate in state-founding. If you don't, if you prove yourself to be only a "small person" in the view of those in charge...

32606152381_59980a9975_o.gif
 

hilary

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I do see what you mean about the similarity with the Garden of Eden. And the unreasonableness of it reminds me of this:
content.jpg
Also the 'Previously in the Sequence...' character of 7.6 which is surely looking forward to 8 - though I don't think the great leader is particularly looking for obedience by this stage.

In hexagram 8, maybe the point is neither logic nor obedience but alignment/ resonance/ natural affinity?

Simon Rattle once said that whenever someone asks him whether they should pursue a career in music, he always says 'No'. Same idea, perhaps.
 

Liselle

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:rofl:

And the unreasonableness of it reminds me of this:
Ah, more details...maybe going back even farther in the sequence?
Tree of Knowledge - 4
Arguing against things that are unreasonable or "not fair" - 6

I don't know the Adam & Eve story well enough - did God ever tell them, "you can't eat this until I say so"? Waiting - 5?
 

hilary

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Don't think so - I think he just told them to eat it. Really... I've tried telling myself not to eat things often enough, and it hasn't worked yet ;)
 

rosada

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I just checked the Bible to see if it mentioned God telling Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit yet but that eventually he would say they could. I couldn't find anything like that but I remember once a minister telling the story and saying that God did indeed intend for them to eventually be able to eat the apples. So maybe I wasn't looking in the right place. But anyway, just wanted to mention that I too had heard some version about a promise of them eventually gaining permission.
I also heard an interpretation of the Adam and Eve story that explained their expulsion from the garden by reasoning that the fruit of the tree of knowledge was so delicious, so above and beyond anything else they had ever tasted, that they saw for themselves that some fruit was better than others, some was good, and by comparison some was evil. So it was the knowledge gained from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that shattered their idealism and made The Garden of Eden longer seem so perfect. It wasn't an angry God that ruined the illusion, it was their own fault - they went poking round and found out too much! Kinda like peeking downstairs on Christmas Eve and finding out Santa Claus is just your dad and mom. Now you know just being on your best behavior wont get you a bike - from now on you have to earn the money yourself.

If there's any original sin here it's probably that Adam blamed Eve for giving him the apple. Whiny coward.
Hmm..would that be an example of 4.3 - 18?
 
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Liselle

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Ha ha! I'd always thought 4.3 meant something like "don't idealize or idolize," but yes, I think the flip side or the reason would be "because they'll disappoint you." Could that be in the relating hexagram or the fan yao, maybe? 18 - old ghosts, hidden causes...18.3 - "Ancestral father’s corruption. There is small regret, No great mistake"... ? Or the paired line 3.4 ("Driving a full team of horses, Seeking marital alliance. Going on, good fortune. Nothing that does not bear fruit." Well, not seeing it, but I'm not good with fan yaos and paired lines.

I didn't know any of that, about the Tree of Knowledge fruit being more delicious than everything else. Hm. Still, they were expelled from a place which was better than what they were expelled to, comparatively speaking. Still seems a high price to pay for losing some idealism.

A situation I'm currently experiencing in my life (which gave rise to this) - it occurred to me that I know something about the I Ching, I know something about astrology, so in a sense I have a Tree of Knowledge and am eating its fruit - but in return I have to actually listen to it and do what it says. Some of which seem pretty arbitrary, at least on the surface, which is why I thought the point might be simple obedience.
 
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rosada

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Yes, I think of the lines, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" and "They said it couldn't be done but I poor fool didn't know that and went ahead and did it anyway."

Maybe 7. The Army implies the need for obedience and 8. introduces the idea of choice and free will (8.5).
 

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