Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
I think I may have mentioned this in another thread about 'connecting judements to images', but these two parts of what many of us now consider a cohesive whole, are in fact writings that are separated by at least a few centuries, maybe more - and I suspect that they were never meant to mean the same, or at least not always. That said ....
To me the 'advice' here seems different, but not necessarily opposite: to 'stand alone and undaunted' and to step 'back from the world without sorrow' (from the image) doesn't at all preclude that 'the ridgepole bends' and it being worthwhile to have somewhere to go (from the oracle text).
Also, at least in this case you seem to have a Gua with two images: where the Wing's image looks at the trigrams; Lake above, and Wind/Wood (or the Trees) below; whereas the Oracle looks at the lines - two broken lines on either end of the four solids in the center - so you have a ridgepole that is too heavy in the middle so it sags ....
But here both the image and oracle are describing a precarious situation: one where the waters are rising above the tree line (the image), and the other shows a sagging ridgepole (the oracle).
And ... regardless if I were in a house, standing under this sagging ridgepole; or if I was caught in the lake's rising waters, I'd be inclinded to 'step back' from, or get out of both of these situations (or perhaps to step back or get away from a particular mindset or worldview?). And for both, I'd certainly think it would actually be better to have somewhere else to go!
Best, D.
Hello Liquidity. A few thoughts: for me what seems true is that there are 'possible connections and /or a lack thereof.' That's what rings true for me with the Oracle/Image connections. And I'm okay with that ambiguity.Yes, you’ve mentioned that (the very long, and sorted history of the Yi). Nevertheless I'm still interested in the possible connections or lack thereof... I feel Yi should be a coherent, integrated intelligence.
In an eariler post - that I believe started off these oracle/image explorations - you said that they are about the connections 'between the oracle/judgment text and the image text'. But now you are adding another dimension, the lines, and also what you consider to be the 'ruling' line.One issue is that the ruler of the hexagram is .4 ("The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating." -WB). This actually suggests something more in the spirit of the Wing image ....
Again, to look for connections might always be a useful quest, but adding in the lines doesn't seem to fit with what you were originally looking at. Also, would this 'formula' of the lines alternating between the oracle/images apply to all the hexagrams? And if it doesn't, how does adding in another variable add to a 'cohesive whole'?I'll note that the lines, too, seem to alternate between the Wing and judgment images you mention. For example, in .6, it seems like it's about the rising waters of the Wing image ("One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame." -WB)
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).