Your reading

what good is the going underground i have in mind?

Your reading resulted in the following hexagrams:

	changing to
59		8

Hexagram 59, Dispersing

Key Questions

Where and how can you be less rigid?
Where were the walls in this situation, and what can you see as they dissolve away?
As energy and vitality is liberated from old boundaries, where will it go?

Oracle

'Dispersing, creating success.
The king assumes his temple.
Fruitful to cross the great river,
Constancy bears fruit.'

It is as if a great thaw brought the floods, and everything solid were swept away. All the walls – whether they divided, contained or sheltered – are gone. The familiar landmarks have vanished down the river, and there's a clear view for miles over free-flowing waters. Perhaps this liberates the vital energy of the situation; perhaps it is utterly disorientating.

Definitions, dividing lines, agreements, bonds, established patterns of life and thought... all these can be Dispersed, their solidity revealed as an illusion. All that holds things together now is the constancy of the flow itself.

The king 'assumes' his temple: he draws near and enters it, and takes on his most important role as the people's connection to spirits and ancestors. This can also be an inner process: centring your inner authority in your spiritual home; letting your decisions flow from that essential underlying source.

With this reconnection, it becomes possible to 'cross the great river' – which has already come to you. The dissolution of the old forms releases energy into new purpose and direction; staying true to the deep connection through the temple, it's good to make the commitment and venture into the unknown.

Image

'Wind moves above the stream: Dispersing.
The ancient kings made offerings to the Highest to establish the temples.'

Sequence

Dispersing follows from Hexagram 58, Opening:
'Rejoicing and hence scattering it, and so Dispersing follows. Dispersing means spreading out.'

Pair

Dispersing forms a pair with Hexagram 60, Measuring:
'Dispersing means spreading out: Measuring means stopping.'

Changing Lines

Hexagram 8, Seeking Union

Key Questions

Where do you belong?
Is this a good fit?
Do you choose to join?

Oracle

'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 is to search for connection and belonging, discovering how it all fits together and creating a new world out of relationships.

It begins where divination begins: at your very source. Ask yourself why it was important to ask this question; get to know where you're coming from. When you find the source, you can flow perpetually out from there towards the right choices and connections. Such self- examination is not a mistake; it's the best way to avoid mistakes. It gives you and your relationships the authenticity of water, which flows together on the earth without changing its nature.

Seeking Union is natural, but not without stress. Singleness of purpose attracts restlessness (from within and without); demands are made on you from all directions at once. Not all the people or all the feelings that appear will be helpful. Yu the Great conquered the Chinese floods through a lifetime of hard toil. When his work was complete and the land was safe, he summoned the lords and spirits to a meeting to found the new world. One of them, Fang Feng, came late; Yu had him executed. To re-create a world of relationships, like Yu, is good fortune. To hesitate and come late, like Fang, is not. The decisive leader has to eliminate the non-committal spirit, the one who procrastinates and isn't quite sure whether to believe in this new union.

Image

'Above earth is the stream: Seeking Union.
The ancient kings founded countless cities for relationship with all the feudal lords.'

Sequence

Seeking Union follows from Hexagram 7, the Army:
'Crowds naturally have occasion to Seek Union.'

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