'unchanging hexagrams are weird'? I surely like 'em then!

(both signature and avatar motto change duly noted - now attending to the ministering of shiny pedals of grooviness )

meng said:

I wondered the same thing, especially from this thread. I was going to say it before. I also wrote of core meaning being like the center of a kaleidoscope. Rather than 64 cores, 64 mirrors, filled with 384 shiny particles. Like the pedals of a flower with the single core in the center. But decided not to post it.

Note my new and profound signature. Now I finally understand what's special about unchanging hexagrams!

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p.s.: too tired to comment more on this, except that I like those luminescent particles holding to their core . . it's a nice image to keep in mind while falling asleep ..

There is another set of experiences I've had related to 22 - as I usually don't write them down, my readings come back to me in waves, or when I draw the same answers again.

There is a very close relative of mine, who suffers from a neurological condition (dystonia) which hinders her life to large extents. I don't ask often about her (or share those readings easily, since I feel they are very personal) but the most common hexagram I receive concerning her, her life, her future, is hexagram 22. Looking back, here are some of the real-life conditions it has depicted

Job-wise: she has managed to get a job selling cosmetics. She went through a couple of different companies but ended up with the one that sells products that are based on the extract of certain plants.

Health-wise: the only thing she can do to help her condition abate (as there is no cure), is to get regular botox shots - I believe the link to the usual 22 notions is clear here?
Also, one treatment that seemed to have really good effects with her, was acupuncture (here's the eastern, 'surface'-work aspect of it). Even though it is not a complete cure, it has helped her improve her posture dramatically, if only as long as she keeps on with the treatment

Last time I received 22 about her, was when I asked about starting a ceramics business with her (she can do the accounting and internet sales managing while I do the rest). This one I'm still contemplating . .

In a 'slanted' way of reading, dystonia is about chi and its formal pathways being blocked (mountain above) . .

Also, in a 'slanted' mode of reading and since the questions all concerned serious issues about health, occupation, her life in general, I wouldn't think that the answers point to anything frivolous - in line with thinking of the hexagram's meanings according to each person's Tao, I think that's another case of readings that have largely shaped both my understanding of the hexagram as a whole and my thoughts on the 'superficiality' aspects of 22


cheers,

Dora, thanks for that clear and diverse account.

A perfect reason why I don't hone in on a single meaning for a hexagram, disregarding the many layers that exist. Not all apply always at once but one can apply in many different ways, at different times. And if I ask a second time for a different impression to ponder to the same question, the Yi accommodates wonderfully. How can two apply to one, or one apply to two or more applications within the same reading? I surrender!

I live in a valley surrounded by mountains. The mountains don't block my view, they extend the range of my view, vastly. Flat horizon to horizon is only ten miles. However, I can see mountains from 1 to 50 miles and beyond. When the sun sets behind and below them, the skies wear makeup of stunning color and luminosity.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've a gray beard to trim.

meng said:

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've a gray beard to trim.

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lol



(you're welcomed, btw)

Dora, were all those unchanging readings?

Bruce - always good to see my words of wisdom immortalised in someone's signature...

I went to a small exhibition of arts the other day, where the "artists" were not real artists in the strict definition and their creation probably not a piece we can see in a gallery. Those people use art to express the words are not yet speech-ripe;they unblock them . There were some of them so powerful that while I'm writing those words I feel the wave of emotions I felt when I saw them. They were so alive , very heavy but they were radiating something very healing.

In most of my reading that h22 is involved there is a blockage and sometimes fire is blocked but that's half of the story . I see it as the fire points out to certain blockage, its the journey that begins with 22.1 . My last 22 reading, although not unchanging, puzzled me so I went to see what the mountain stand for. Its about hands and what concerns me is a fire in my hand and a blockage.

Fire is obstructed but not our view.

The reason I don't trust a lot core meaning and said earlier about default thinking was because once I read, when i was new at Yi, 22 as superficial. Was an alternative method to solve a burn out. I didn't trusted it and hex 22 " confirm" it. Its strange how things happen and after a while two people that helped me in that, talk about this method, and here, looking for something else I came across to an old thread about 22 and Qi. I choosed to follow that method, and while it was painful most of the time-unblocking my chakras -she said- , at this end of each session was that special treatment , that the practitioner was holding my head with her hands and a small warm fire was lit and running across my body. She said she was pouring energy to me. I knew nothing about those things . maybe she did, maybe i was doing it... nevertheless the warm fire-river was real and very reviving.

I talked about core meanings and the danger of default reading but I have my own ways-core meanings- of seen 22. And it could be about enlightenment and Maya and discussions of that level and could be about my numb fingers and the fire and the blocked nerve or the colorful mind-maps that save my life in exams because they appear vivid in my mind or could be anything else ... grande or petite.

its not a coincidence that this tread went a bit "Off topic" . I agree we are still on topic.

Dora, were all those unchanging readings?

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yes, they were - I received 22 unch. at least once for each of them . . there were also other 22 readings with lines for some - the 'fishing accident' reading had lines though

hilary said:

Bruce - always good to see my words of wisdom immortalised in someone's signature...

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It's right up there with Einstein's "spukhafte Fernwirkung" (spooky action at a distance) for Quantum Entanglement. :bows:

A more recent 22uc experience. I was aware someone I was doing some work for had somewhat positioned me on a pedestal. She had made a nice image of me which well served both of us in my giving service to her. At one point we arranged to meet purely socially. In our usual roles my attention was necessarily all focused on her not the other way about. I asked Yi about the wisdom of sharing different aspects of my life/self with her and got 22uc. I felt this was a pretty clear indication I should just let the surface be the surface. In my role to her she needed to see me a certain way. As it transpired I realised that was very much the case. I felt just like a shiny surface that even if I tried she would not see beyond....even if I stood and my head and did this she would not see beyond the functional image we had co created. She wasn't that interested because she needed me to play a certain role. That's fair enough. When I go to see my dentist I want him to just present his dentist face to me and I am quite happy to interface with his dentist like exterior. The image of a competent dentist serves both of us. But in relationships where more than that is wanted staying with just the image may be a limitation. I don't mind being a shiny surface in some scenarios but in others I'd rather be known beyond that. This thread http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/frie...w-do-you-interpret-hex-22&p=179322#post179322 gave rise to these thoughts

There are two reading that include 22. Although not unchanged, might be of some interest. feel free to move this post if its not its place here.

there was an assignment and an attached competition in it. the prize was impressive, meeting a significant -at least to me- person and some other benefits too. When the criteria for the contest were announced- it was a peer evaluation at the first stage- a long debate started because they lacked clarity and was not possible to measure some variables. In good faith many people asked for further explanation but the prof , graceful avoided to address the main issue and only gave an instruction to a rather insignificant part of the problem. When the candidate paper release for a second round of voting it was more than apparent the superficial way we all had to assess the paper- that was the initial problem. I'm not sure if there will be any further announcement for all the problematic parts but technically the issue is over as the committee will announce the winner soon.

Engaging ourselves to that project was a really great experience and there is a consensus on that. but also on that the whole think was just a show and those organized have might have a benefit from this "huge" event.

this whole event embodies, imo, many faces of 22. The show and showing off (prof promoted other "businesses" of him in several occasion). Also the effort of many to "beautify" a rather unpleasant situation and finally to ignore the negative aspects and try to see the bigger picture and how we were benefit in a personal level . There was a lot of dissonance aroused so there was a need to "heal" that.

when I asked trying to understand why he avoided to address the issue risen from hundreds of people I got 27.3>22 and trying to decide why approach was the most appropriate got 22>23

A recent 22UC experience. Having struggled with a difficult situation for some time, I finally lightened up and relaxed about it. I asked "what to ponder regarding that situation?" And got 22UC. It was crystal clear to me: A state of grace, to be cherished while it lasts. And who knows, when the golden mist dissipates, maybe the situation will have shape shifted?

22 Unchanging - Form Follows Function

In every case in which I've receive 22uc, it has pointed me to look at the Function and see how the Form actually fits.

It says, to me, "If something looks too good to be true, it's too good to be true. If it quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck - it is a duck."

Example: I have had trouble establishing communication with X, who shares bills with me but lives elsewhere with his new gf. I am his ex-gf. She is his co-worker. They work, sleep, eat, and all those things together for the most part. And she is not happy that he still has connections with me. It causes all kinds of ugliness. But I do need to talk to him on occasion, because we share responsibility for things still. Plus, he and I still want to be...friends, at the very least. So I asked the oracle, when is the best time to contact him. I was given an answer from which I extracted "early mornings bring success." 14.6 Is being assisted by heaven, where abundance is richly deserved, not just because of hard work but because the path was walked with honesty and sincerity. And I could hear my mother in my head waking me up as a little girl in the morning singing in an exaggerated croaky voice, "good morning to you, good morning to you, we're all in our places, with sunshiny faces...and this is the way we start a new day", followed by a cheerful "time to rise and shine! early bird gets the worm!"

I thought, of course! I know him well - his favorite time is early morning, while everyone else is still asleep. But then I worried - does she get up early to be with him? 22uc.

Form follows function. If people need to be up early and ready for work, then it's up early. If they drank all night, early morning is going to be a tough act. If someone is insecure in their relationship, they might worry about looking ugly in the morning and get up as soon as possible to be fresh and look good.

Form follows function.

If someone is a con-man, then you can expect them to pull funny business when making a transaction with them, to cheat you. A discerning eye can tell the difference between a veneered desk and solid oak. A fake rolex from authentic. A plated gold item from solid gold. And when someone is acting polite and friendly but actually being insincere - the eyes are the window to the soul, and if you look someone in the eye while interacting you can SEE things.

The main way you learn to discern these things is through practice. Look at the lines. They are an exercise in critical thinking skills. In hexagram 21, we were chewing something through to get to the truth, biting down, TASTING it. Now in hexagram 22 we are using another sense: SIGHT.

1. At the outset - don't cut corners. Keep it simple. Accept what you eyes are seeing.

2. The beard covers the chin...but the chin is there. You know this. The beard doesn't exist without it. Give careful consideration to the obvious underlying, unseen things. The grass is thick but the dirt is still there, under it. It has to be there or the grass wouldn't be there.

3. Moisture, dewy. Sparkly. This looks good. Someone has taken great care to groom. The grass has been watered, by nature or by sprinkler system. Or it could be like the "Soul Glow" commercial in that old Eddie Murphy movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGrasobHcKA) where the hair is all shiny - leaving grease all over the place, or that plant could be a sundew and those shiny drops are sticky to capture ants for it to eat. It could be fools gold. Watch out for shiny stuff. (This line seems to talk along the lines of 3 of 31, where lusts take initiative; 3 of 32, where character improvement is ignored; 3 of 11, there's no plain without a slope; 3 of 8, union with the wrong people; 3 of 27, the wrong kind of nourishment; 3 of 51, mental conflict - resolve your confusion; 3 of 61, believing what is not to be believed; 3 of 4, the gold digger girl who throws herself at wealthy men...)

4 Don't make assumptions just yet. You're still sorting out what you're seeing. It's not time to draw conclusions. Keep looking at what is simple and obvious, at this point you are separating out the mirage of glittering water from what is actual sand and actual water. You are remembering that green things grow around water. Star-struck, complexity is intimidating and makes us forget that people are human and we all burp and fart.

5 By this point, only a small part of what you have seen can actually be confirmed as dependable and reliable information. It's hard enough to look at other people, but seeing yourself is harder because your eyeballs are in your head. But that's not a bad thing - less is more. You can be confident in what your eyes have told you, just don't READ more into it.

6 Simple and substantial - there are no pretenses. INSIDE, you KNOW what's going on. At this point, whatever the situation, you have a solid basis for trusting your Intuition on the matter and making choices.

With no moving lines - all of these lines are in a fixed state, firmly rooted in the present. Nothing is acting on them to change them. Persona, Art, Appearance should be given its due, but don't let it take the lead. So what if the cup looks like gold, if it's lead plated with gold you probably don't want to drink from it.

Now on to hexagram 23 where after we are done looking, we are going to Peel the dried up outer skins off the onion and split it apart, cry, and keep only the good parts for our yummy salad and onion rings - the rest will get thrown in the compost.

I have to buy my first digital camera to make pictures and videos.

Me: This particular camera: how do you see it for me?
Yi: A beautiful camera indeed! very bright, and good for films

Photographs are in themselves fire shadows on the mountain side. Transient snapshots of life passing by, the truth for now. I had as I said earlier up the thread 22uc for many strange little episodes I didn't understand. I now see this answer as my view was like someone seeing things from a train window, lots of images, reflections in the windows. One cannot pass any important judgment on the basis of such images, yet the irony is that image at that split second the picture was taken is at least a truth of the moment.

22uc seems a good augury for a camera

This quote for me embodies the essence of hexagram 22:

“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.” — R. Buckminster Fuller

For me 22 UC has repeatedly advised, or functioned as, "facade/mask." Some memorable 22 UCs:

I was in a bad/anxious mood because of a problem that had arisen, but had a prescheduled phone call with a relative. I didn't want to discuss the problem with them, or reveal I was in a bad mood, but I also didn't want to cancel the call. "How should I get through this call?" 22 UC. Put up a facade. I did, and it went fine.

Another time I was doing a short freelance assistance job for someone who I liked personally, but who had an absolutely chaotic and draining manner of organizing their work. The job was short term and though they were driving me crazy, I saw no benefit to pointing this out or trying to resolve it. Nevertheless frustrated, I asked Yi, "Do you have any advice for making this go smoothly?" 22 UC. This confirmed to me that I should just maintain a facade of pleasantness around the job, go with the flow so to speak, and not draw attention to how insane/draining it was. I managed to keep up a good face, the job finished up nicely, we're still on great terms. (And I will never take another job with them, haha.)

And I just got 22 UC today, in asking for advice on getting through this week at work. I've decided almost definitely to give notice soon, but not quite yet as I'd like to get some other things lined up first. I asked Yi, "Do you have any advice for getting through this week?" 22 UC. Maintain a facade.

Distilled down even more, I find 22 UC to (often) mean: "In this situation, it's to your benefit to appear pleasant and relaxed even if you don't much feel like it at the moment."

I think there is a tendency to attach good or bad implications to a hex depending what we were experiencing when we cast it, and sometimes as a result we can miss the actual point the Yi is making.
I think Grace is not a bad description, for example if a person has problems we can gloss over them, overlook their social mistakes perhaps. Maybe we can see what's under the surface is messy but we pretend we don't show this, we cover their faults with grace. We beautify what may not be beautiful. A new snow can make a dung covered field and thatched farmer's hut look quite poetic in the winter...
But sometimes what is under the surface is not ugly at all. But good lighting makes the inner beauty pop a bit, and a little makeup never hurt, life is after all a little bit show biz!
As far as Trojina's casting of 22 when she was really drunk - perhaps the Yi was saying that not only did you not know how drunk you were - but no one else could tell either.

- LL

To add to the discussion, I came upon this quote from the painter Brian Kershisnik, and made me think of Hexagram 22: ''I believe in the importance of beauty, but must acknowledge that it can be both an effective conveyor of truth and also a distraction from it. Perhaps it is linking truth and beauty in their uncountable facets that should be hoped for and sought. This linking is a pursuit, not a location, and artworks that are the proper byproducts of that searching are good for us even when most fall short of the actual fusion.''Here is the link to the blog post:https://www.kershisnik.com/w-o-r-d-s/2017/7/6/looking-for-something

olga said:

I have to buy my first digital camera to make pictures and videos.

Me: This particular camera: how do you see it for me?
Yi: A beautiful camera indeed! very bright, and good for films

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I've had this camera for two years now. It's beautiful but its unchanginess to me looks like 'you won't be going anywhere with it'. It is so difficult and expensive that I've been using it very little, just when obliged by my teachers to hand in some assignments.

I have recieved hexagram 22 every now and then when asking about my business. To me, in that sense its about giving true value, like people do not want to pay for fluff. As a few people have mentioned, things taking shape or form, but yes I find it a frustrating answer at times. Facade makes sense, the ego not the subconsious. True beauty or form instead of some thing wishy washy or try reach that maybe the advice.

Personally, I am being advised to give my work true value " i think".

Rockstars or film stars may be a good metaphor, who they are at home is not what they project.

I was trying to think what 22 mean't for Trogina when drinking. It could have been advice like do not worry to much, shit happens thats not who you are, maybe??? Its a hard one, being drunk of which i know about can be an almost out of body experience. 22 could also mean I think , things are not what they seem or were not what you thought.

Its quite an odd hexagram compared to many of the others, when you think about it, however life is very strange. Like the other day, I saw an image of the milky way and thought. What are stars? I know or am told they are suns or basically chemicals But whats the purpose exactly and why so many? The world or living much of the time is not what it seems.

As you can see, I have a few thoughts on the answer or advice. In a literal or basic sense, to me its about as you say Facade, create or look for substance, get past the illusion if possible.