48. Ching / The Well

rosada · Oct 21, 2008

48. Ching / The Well
__ __
_____ above K'AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
__ __
_____
_____ below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
__ __

Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up the water. The image derives from the pole and bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles
by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers.

The well from which the water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
-Wilhelm

Sparhawk · Oct 21, 2008

meng · Oct 21, 2008

refreshing to get out of 47

I'm really gonna have to change this haphazard concoction for 48. It's a combination of a bird's nest, an old guy with a fishing rod, and a Mohave Green rattlesnake tail, I was asked to remove from a neighbor's yard. With five dogs loose in the yard, I thought it prudent to kill it first. My favorite part is the soft yellow yarn, which the bird had used to line the nest. What all this has to do with a well is anyone's guess, but if you squint real hard....

Tohpol · Oct 22, 2008

meng said:
I'm really gonna have to change this haphazard concoction for 48. It's a combination of a bird's nest, an old guy with a fishing rod, and a Mohave Green rattlesnake tail, I was asked to remove from a neighbor's yard. With five dogs loose in the yard, I thought it prudent to kill it first. My favorite part is the soft yellow yarn, which the bird had used to line the nest. What all this has to do with a well is anyone's guess, but if you squint real hard....

Wow. Interesting image. Works for me.

Topal

rosada · Oct 22, 2008

The ruler of the hexagram is the nine in the fifth place. The influence of the well depends on the water, and the nine in the fifth place is the ruler of the trigram K'an, water. The meaning of the hexagram is nourishment of the people, and the nine in the fifth place is the prince who provides them with nourishment.

The Sequence
He who is oppressed above is sure to turn downward. Hence there follows the hexagram of THE WELL.

Miscellaneous Notes
THE WELL means union.
-Wilhelm

meng · Oct 22, 2008

topal said:
Wow. Interesting image. Works for me.

Topal

Thanks

. Originally, the snake remnant reminded me of mythology of an ancient dragon, symbolizing that the well was there long before man existed. I think that's an important aspect of 48. Man added the superstructure, but the well of water is prehistoric.

ravenstar · Oct 23, 2008

In Remembrance of Times Past, Marcel Proust wrote:
http://www.fisheaters.com/proust.html

"What an abyss of uncertainty whenever the mind feels that some part of it has strayed beyond its own borders; when it, the seeker, is at once the dark region through which it must go seeking, where all its equipment will avail it nothing. Seek? More than that: create. It is face to face with something which does not so far exist, to which it alone can give reality and substance, which it alone can bring into the light of day. "

I find this reflects Hexagram 48 the Well. Also Joni Mitchell's song WOODSTOCK

I came upon a child of god
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
Im going on down to yasgurs farm
Im going to join in a rock n roll band
Im going to camp out on the land
Im going to try an get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And weve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe its the time of man
I dont know who l am
But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And weve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devils bargain
And weve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

ravenstar

rosada · Oct 23, 2008

Beautiful ravenstar! I had never actually listened to the lyrics. So good of you to write them out for us.

rosada · Oct 23, 2008

Appended Judgements
The WELL shows the field of character. The WELL abides in its place, yet has influence on other things. The WELL brings about discrimination as to what is right.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 24, 2008

The well remains in its place; it has a firm never failing foundation. Similarly, character must have a deep foundation and a lasting connection with the springs of life. The well itself does not change, yet through the water that is drawn from it, it exherts a far reaching influence. The well is the image of a tranquil dispensing of bounty to all who approach it. Character likewise must be tranquil and clear, so that ideas of what is right can become clear. This hexagram refers to nourishment, like Hsu, WAITING (5), I, THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH, (27), and Ting, THE CALDRON (50), THE WELL refers to the water necessary for nourishment, as indespensable to life.

The two nuclear trigrams tend to rise. Hence the text lines indicate, from the first upward, ever increasing clarification and auspiciousness in the situation, in contrast to the danger indicated in the judgement on the hexagram as a whole.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 25, 2008

The judgement

THE WELL. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.

In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of the architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primary needs, is independant of all political forms, Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same - this cannot change, Life is inexhaustible, It grows neither less nor more; it exists for one and for all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 25, 2008

However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness - by which the jug is broken - is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such an excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is breaking the jug.
=Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 26, 2008

This hexagram applies also to the individual. However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man's nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention -a partial education of this sort is as bad as none- or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.
-Wilhelm.

rosada · Oct 26, 2008

Commentary on the Decision

Penetrating under water and bringing up the water: this is THE WELL.
The well nourishes and is not exhausted.
"The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed, " because central position is combined with firmness.
"If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way," one has not yet achieved anything.
"If the jug breaks": this brings misfortune.

ravenstar · Oct 26, 2008

rosada said:
This hexagram applies also to the individual. However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man's nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention -a partial education of this sort is as bad as none- or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.
-Wilhelm.

So is Wilhelm saying we can tranverse the various cycles of 'time' to discover creations that have been stored and locked away? What of entrapment of things that also stifled our development......are they there as well? Could these also divert our awareness and development? Is the Well a place to reevaluate our purpose and to redefine what belongs to us and what doesn't? Is it a place to reclaim forgotten knowledge? And when we do journey within, will feelings and memories emerge, giving us the opportunity to know who we are? And deep within our Individual Well, is there or will we find a spring that leads to other wells? Is the well a very individual process at first and then somehow draws others who are interested in its Wellspring of knowledge?

I remember when my father's well at the cottage wasn't deep enough and had to be drilled another 25 feet before it hit water. Layers upon layers of earth and stone were exposed as the drill went deeper and deeper. The deeper it went the more rich the soil...each layer was different from the last. Is this tied in with our search for new energy, to get a grasp of our reality and life that is in danger of slipping away.

I don't expect answers from all my crazy questions.....probably I asked them for myself to analyze and understand them. As we go through each line, the answers will be there.....one by one

ravenstar

frank_r · Oct 26, 2008

48

48 is one of the quantum hexagrams. The path between trigram thunder and trigram thunder is 48. So with 48, the Well we can start every cycle again and again. Trigram thunder as beginning of the King Wen sequence.

Trigram water on top and wind below. From the inside the proces of finding water is a ongoing proces.
The nucleur trigrams are fire on top and lake in the inside.
So there is yoy on the inside and rationality on top. We can laugh with our own thinking.

When we can see the humour of our own thinking we can bring out the life within us. That will rejuvinate us over and over again. With this water we find in ourselves, we can take care of the leaves and branches that grow towards Heaven.
48 and 49 have a lot to do with our first chakra.

Frank

rosada · Oct 26, 2008

I find it interesting to read Wilhelm's words with awareness of the current political situation.
"..there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory..political organization of mankind..." He then comments that a superficial ordering of life that does not satisfy the deepest needs - like a bailout that only helps the banks but not the people - would be disastrous and also that a military defense of a state carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated - Iraq! - would also "break the jug."
So The Well can be seen as commenting on an effort that if it does not go far enough to help is bad, and also if the effort goes too far it is also bad.

ravenstar · Oct 26, 2008

frank_r said:
48 is one of the quantum hexagrams. The path between trigram thunder and trigram thunder is 48. So with 48, the Well we can start every cycle again and again. Trigram thunder as beginning of the King Wen sequence.

Trigram water on top and wind below. From the inside the proces of finding water is a ongoing proces.
The nucleur trigrams are fire on top and lake in the inside.
So there is yoy on the inside and rationality on top. We can laugh with our own thinking.

When we can see the humour of our own thinking we can bring out the life within us. That will rejuvinate us over and over again. With this water we find in ourselves, we can take care of the leaves and branches that grow towards Heaven.
48 and 49 have a lot to do with our first chakra.

Frank

Thank you Frank, I really love your posts and how each trigram relates to a body part or chakra.

When you wrote about laughing, I remembered reading some of the many books by Carlos Castenadas who mentions in most of them to laugh....

Listen to your inner voice. Don't listen to the superficial voice that makes you angry. Listen to that deeper voice that is going to guide you from now on, the voice that is laughing. Listen to it! And laugh with it. Laugh! Laugh!

From The Active Side of Infinity

AND....

Self-importance is the motivating force for every attack of melancholy. Warriors are entitled to have profound states of sadness, but that sadness is there only to make them laugh.

From The Fire Within

ravenstar

meng · Oct 26, 2008

ravenstar said:
So is Wilhelm saying we can tranverse the various cycles of 'time' to discover creations that have been stored and locked away? What of entrapment of things that also stifled our development......are they there as well? Could these also divert our awareness and development? Is the Well a place to reevaluate our purpose and to redefine what belongs to us and what doesn't? Is it a place to reclaim forgotten knowledge? And when we do journey within, will feelings and memories emerge, giving us the opportunity to know who we are? And deep within our Individual Well, is there or will we find a spring that leads to other wells? Is the well a very individual process at first and then somehow draws others who are interested in its Wellspring of knowledge?

I remember when my father's well at the cottage wasn't deep enough and had to be drilled another 25 feet before it hit water. Layers upon layers of earth and stone were exposed as the drill went deeper and deeper. The deeper it went the more rich the soil...each layer was different from the last. Is this tied in with our search for new energy, to get a grasp of our reality and life that is in danger of slipping away.

Interesting questions. If I may paraphrase: Might we be digging up bones in our efforts to drill deeper into our core?

I don't think so. I think these are more likely to be found in 26 and 18. But I'm not saying this is written in stone, by any means, because nothing is an island to itself. And that would apply as well to the well. We may each have our own access to the well, but in the bigger theoretical picture, there is only one.

frank_r · Oct 26, 2008

ravenstar said:
When you wrote about laughing, I remembered reading some of the many books by Carlos Castenadas who mentions in most of them to laugh....

ravenstar

Hello Ravenstar,

I also liked the books of Carlos Castaneda, I read most of them. Beautifull stories and I remember that I also laughed a lot. Especially when Carlos was that serious and Don Juan could't stop laughing.

I remember one of his books(I don't know which one) that Don Juan and his friend made him totally mad with a car. They couldn't understand that somebody could be that serious, and only wanted to understand things rationally.

Frank

ravenstar · Oct 26, 2008

frank_r said:
Hello Ravenstar,

I also liked the books of Carlos Castaneda, I read most of them. Beautifull stories and I remember that I also laughed a lot. Especially when Carlos was that serious and Don Juan could't stop laughing.

I remember one of his books(I don't know which one) that Don Juan and his friend made him totally mad with a car. They couldn't understand that somebody could be that serious, and only wanted to understand things rationally.

Frank

Hmm, could it have been The Power of Silence?

Also, Frank you mentioned the 1st Chakra for both Hexagram 47 and 48. Would the kidneys/bladder be included?

frank_r · Oct 26, 2008

ravenstar said:
Hmm, could it have been The Power of Silence?

Also, Frank you mentioned the 1st Chakra for both Hexagram 47 and 48. Would the kidneys/bladder be included?

Yes, can be The power of sielence I thought was one the best.

And about the chakra's 47 and 48 are not on the level of the bladder and kidneys. The hexagrams that are concerned with the bladder are 12 and 38 and the kidney are 20 and 54.

Frank

rosada · Oct 27, 2008

It seems as though the text at the beginning of the commentary were somewhat incomplete. Yet nothing of the essential meaning has been lost, The first half of the Judgement refers to the nature of the well. It is the unchangeable within change, The upper trigram K'an indicates a well, and the lower trigram Sun symbolizes a town. The ruler of the hexagram is in the upper trigram, hence the idea of no change, The second half or the text refers to the dangers connected with using the well. The trigram Sun means a rope, the nuclear trigram Li a hollow vessel, the nuclear trigram Tui means to break in pieces. In this way the danger of breaking the jug is indicated.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 28, 2008

The hexagram also contains a symbolic meaning. Just as water in its inexhaustibility is the basic requsite of life, so the "way of kings" - good government - is the indispensable foundation of the life of the state. Place and time may change, but the methods for regulating the collective life of the people remain forever the same. Evil conditions arise only when the right people are not at hand to execute the plan. This is symbolized by the shattering of the jug before it has reached the water.
-Wilhelm

ravenstar · Oct 28, 2008

meng said:
We may each have our own access to the well, but in the bigger theoretical picture, there is only one.

Only one meng? Think of multitudes of buckets that would descend into one Well.....sounds kinda crowded?!?

fron Frank, And about the chakra's 47 and 48 are not on the level of the bladder and kidneys. The hexagrams that are concerned with the bladder are 12 and 38 and the kidney are 20 and 54.

Gosh Frank, I love knowing about the chakras and body parts in relation to the I Ching. Thank you! Would definitely enjoy hearing more......have you thought of starting a thread in Exploring Divination regarding this. I've started looking and learning the hexagrams from Number One, and sadly not all have been responded in regard to your expertise. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this!

From rosada, The hexagram also contains a symbolic meaning. Just as water in its inexhaustibility is the basic requsite of life, so the "way of kings" - good government - is the indispensable foundation of the life of the state. Place and time may change, but the methods for regulating the collective life of the people remain forever the same. Evil conditions arise only when the right people are not at hand to execute the plan. This is symbolized by the shattering of the jug before it has reached the water.
-Wilhelm

rosada, I found this poem which seems very much in keeping with Hex 48

TRUE TO A DREAM
Donald Petersen

And the curtains, the lamp,
The rose-papered wall,
The familiar cramp
Of books in the rack,
Would fade; he would fall
Through a slumbrous abyss
To a great zodiac
Where Lions hiss,
Where the master swings
A nine-tailed whip
Or the bluebird sings
In a private arbor
Or a wonderful ship
Has the sky for a harbor

And when it was past
All that he saw
Was darkness and vast
Confusions of vapor,
And rubbed his eyes raw,
And when he awoke,
The book-laden shelf
And the old rose-paper
Appeared the same
And he fancied himself
Cut off at stroke,
In a trice undone,
For as quick as it came
The show passed on.

And the persons he met,
Were brave but sad.
One paused by the bed
But could not talk.
Another one had
A limp in his walk,
There was a lone
Boy on a crutch
An heir to a throne
Was locked out of touch.
And the princess was pining
As princesses must
And everything shining
Began to rust.

And hour after hour,
Yet always true,
To the one highest tower
The boy withdrew
And true to a dream
That opens and closes
He ruled supreme,
Suppressing the roses,
That mounted the wall,
Until in a bold,
Deliberate choice
He relinquished his hold
At the faraway call
Of a donstairs voice.

This wonderful poem is unfortunately not on the internet. At least I couldn't find it anywhere. Enjoy.

ravenstar

frank_r · Oct 29, 2008

ravenstar said:
Gosh Frank, I love knowing about the chakras and body parts in relation to the I Ching. Thank you! Would definitely enjoy hearing more......have you thought of starting a thread in Exploring Divination regarding this. I've started looking and learning the hexagrams from Number One, and sadly not all have been responded in regard to your expertise. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this!

Hallo Ravenstar,

In this thread are the hexagrams that are related with the meridians from acupuncture(post number 1). There are also the connections with all the trigrams and the body energies. http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?t=3030)

Frank

meng · Oct 29, 2008

ravenstar said:
Only one meng? Think of multitudes of buckets that would descend into one Well.....sounds kinda crowded?!?

Given the ratio of space to matter, there should be plenty of room; enough for both the big and little dipper at once.

rosada · Oct 29, 2008

The image

Water over wood: the image of THE WELL.
Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.

The trigram Sun, wood, is below and the trigram K'an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Oct 30, 2008

The lines

48.1
Six at the beginning means:
One does not drink the mud of the well.
No animal comes to an old well.

If a man wanders around in swampy lowlands, his life is submerged in mud. Such a man loses all significance for mankind. He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others. In the end no one troubles about him any more.

"One cannot drink the mud of the well": it is too far down.
"No animals come to an old well": time forsakes it.

The line is weak and at the very bottom, hence the idea of mud in the well. It is hidden by the firm line in the second place, hence the idea that no animals come. It remains quite outside the movement. Time passes it by.

solun · Oct 30, 2008

In this thread are the hexagrams that are related with the meridians from acupuncture(post number 1). There are also the connections with all the trigrams and the body energies.

- frank_r

Great insight to bring in frank! I have studied some of the Chinese body philosophy, macrobiotics, and Indian, ayurveda - so this is an interesting additional bit to bring to the interpretation.
As you are speaking of kidneys - relating to the water element - they were referred to as the 'seat of the will'. If I remember correctly, the liver was considered the 'Godfather' of the organs.

Thanks, I hadn't really considered bringing this in, but it may enrich ... ?!

48. Ching / The Well

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