Hi,

New to the I Ching and first time poster here. I asked "How can I move forward with my healing journey?" and received 34.2.5.6 > 13.

For context, for the past seven or so years I have been on a "quest" to resolve some long-standing mental and emotional symptoms, as well as deal with old ingrained patterns and habits.

I have found a modality that seems to work and provide what I am looking for in terms of healing. However, I find that my efforts to find it have put me in a position where I cannot pursue this modality and no matter what I do to try and correct the situation, my efforts only make things worse. I seem to be...well, stuck.

Unfortunately I didn't save my reading from Clarity - so I'll pull translations from James DeKorne's site.

Line 2: The strength of line two is tempered by his being in a magnetic place which is also in the center. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. The central position and the due moral mean in line two are illustrative of the maxim: "The strong man is he who overcomes himself." "Willpower succeeds/Don't give up the ship."

The nature of this journey is of overcoming symptoms and personal demons, which seems to be reflected in line 2. From what I understand, it's saying to not give up the fight.

Line 5: The fifth line, magnetic, shows one who loses her ram-like strength. She loses her ram and hardly perceives it -- she is not in her proper place. You should now let go of an opinionated or stubborn attitude. It is no longer necessary to prove anything. The situation will progress with ease; therefore you do not need to use excessive force.

In coming to an impasse, it feels like I have regressed to where I started my journey, back at square one. I have kind of resigned to my situation, but as a result lost much of my "drive" to heal. The very pursuit of amelioration has, in the end, brought me back to the start, with what seems like nowhere to go. (Losing ram-like strength)

Line 6: The sixth line, magnetic, shows one who may be compared to the ram butting against the fence, and unable either to retreat, or to advance as he would fain do. There will be no advantage in any respect, but if he realizes the difficulty of his position, there will be good fortune. "Accept an impasse and learn it's lesson/In order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events."

What I'm gathering here is, that I've spent so much time and effort searching, pushing, my way into finding an answer, and now that I've found it, nothing furthers and no progress is available to be made (The goat with it's head stuck in the hedge.)
This makes sense, although I'm at a loss with the practical advice being given here. Am I to just...stop looking? Give up and let life lead me to where I need to be? This is what I assume "not imposing a direction on events" means...but I've spent seven years researching and trying to find an answer...

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

34. is about stabilizing before moving ahead. Perhaps you have taken in more information than you have put to use? Maybe advice to get comfortable with the level your at now before trying to do more? 34.2.5.6 changes to 13. Fellowship. I wonder is there a support group for your condition? Or perhaps you should start one? I've started a healing support group in my home. We meet once a month for a pot luck (Vegetarian and Gluten Free of course.) and share our latest discoveries and encourage each other to keep on keeping on. It's not about any specific issue but just good health in general. We have one lady needing to lose weight and another fighting cancer. I'm trying to sort through and let go of my deceased father's boxes without going into mind numbing depression. Amazing how good I feel after the group meets.

Good luck to you, rosada

p.s. Listen to The Beatles "I Get By With a Little help From My Friends"!

Thinking about this some more...
Could it be that you have people around you that are reinforcing your sense of being stuck?

34.2 - yup, you're doing great, don't give up! Wilhelm - The premise here is that the gates to success are beginning to open. Resistance gives way and we forge ahead.
34.5 - for me, personally, "losing goat" is the first step to transformation... i'd think one of the steps to healing is to eventually be like seemingly unrelated 50.6 - the ting with rings of jade (hard material with a soft luster), something opposed to the goat (hard outside but weak or tender inside). i also feel this is about letting go of some inner resistance and the stubborn attitude that you mentioned too.
34.6 - you realised that you're stuck, that maybe although some lesson's been learned and some understanding gained, there has been no follow-up and no real life application of this wisdom yet, hence the feeling of being entangled in possibly too much theoretical work?

could fellowship with men, or simply reaching out to people, or immersing yourself in good company serve for further practice of the modality you're working with? i guess "losing one's goat" is a constant process but also one that just implies, imo, relating to others. i agree with rosada's first interpretation, the question is about how to move forward in the healing journey and 13 provides a strong context for more detailed lines of the hex 34 answer. that is to maybe start testing what you learned with others, in some safe, open space? if the question was negative, about what's hindering the progress, then it would be worth asking about some influences that could reinforce the apparent standstill but in this case i think Yi is actually hinting at going out.

to me this reading sounds as if you've done some big job already at overcoming your demons (congratulations, btw!), so it's only natural to feel overwhelmed and especially now that you might be ready to move on, all of a sudden more resistance or some old habits could try to creep in? but i'd think that is only to support the progress you've already made and help you move forward as well.

"not imposing a direction on events" - i read it as not judging the events as good or bad (as this is something the goat would do, while the ting with rings of jade wouldn't ), since they all can serve for one's personal growth and effectively healing. but i don't believe it means giving up and letting go of your own steer. possibly quite the opposite, start going and being where you want to be and greet whatever events that brings into your life with an open, unassuming mind?

Hi rosada, thanks for taking the time to reply - your interpretation has been very insightful.

Indeed, I have taken in more information than I have put to use - the "stuck" feeling is rooted in knowing the theory, but not being in an appropriate situation to actually practice.

You've hit the nail on the head - there are others in my environment who I feel are holding me back, and don't support the practices and I feel like I need to move on from my current situation in order to pursue this. However, this is not immediately possible due to various entanglements.

There is a support group, actually. It doubles as a crash-course in the practice and theory behind everything - it's a paid program that emphasizes support, and offers it to it's students. That doesn't run until March of next year...I'm kind of in a waiting period, maybe the "stabilization before moving ahead?"

Those group meets sound wonderful. I can definitely relate to your feelings concerning your father - I'm happy that the group meetings are so helpful for you. Perhaps I need to reach out as well, as I'm usually fairly asocial and shy.

legume,

Both your and rosada's suggestions are really solidifying the way forward, it seems.

Thank you, by the way. The "big job" seems like it could be the near decade of research and self-reflection, finally coming to a conclusion. This also could be the "too much theory" being implied in line 6? It is now a time for the practical application of these discoveries?

It took me a while to grasp your interpretation of line 5 with the goat/ting with rings of jade. After reading it over a few times it is starting to crystallize and make a little more sense.

I think that is a healthier way of interpreting "not imposing a direction on events." I was under the impression that it just meant letting it go, and it was causing some confusion.