Joy: Double Your Pleasure

Joy shows Tui, the Lake, Joy, doubled. There are no changing lines. Usually no changing lines means self-examination is needed to discover what hindrances or blockages prevent you from experiencing the best energy available now during the time of Joy. That sounds OK to me -- bring it on!

Influence: A Day Of Empty Chatter!

Influence shows the Mountain, Ken, under the Lake, Tui. It is the meeting of the youngest son and youngest daughter. Influence is like going out on a date, meeting someone new. It is a weak and impermanent force.

The sixth line changing shows a weak line in a weak place trying to influence others by chattering. It has no force or substance behind its empty words. Thus neither good nor bad fortune is implied from such an inconsequential force.

Retreat results. It shows Heaven rising up and mounting away from the Mountain.

Pushing Upward To Preponderance Of The Small

Pushing Upward shows the tree, or more likely an acorn or seed, that is pushing upward through the Earth. It is a time of advancement.

The second line tells us that if we are sincere even a humble or small offering brings good fortune. The fifth line shows that our work will be rewarded with praise and fame that lasts beyond time.

Preponderance Of The Small results; it is the inverse of yesterday's Inner Truth. Imagery of birds predominates and a message can be expected to come on wings. It generally recommends giving preponderance in our behavior to thrift, humility and mourning. This hexagram speaks well to our time.

Holding Together To Natural Response: Ask Again; Inner Truth

Holding Together is the reverse of Possession In Great Measure, from yesterday. Here, one solitary strong line holds five weak, evil lines together. It is an inherently weaker position. The image suggests a comb holding hair together. The fifth line shows the ruler hunting -- beaters were used on three sides; the game that came in to view was fairly taken; the game also had a chance to escape from the fourth side where there was no beater. The idea here is that we hold together with those who freely choose our company and let those who do not desire our company to depart.

Inner Truth is the Great Li formed by doubling each line of Li: two strong, two weak then two strong at the top. It indicates dependability. Inner Truth says that criminal cases should be discussed to delay executions. This hexagram indicates a time when we have built up inner truth to such a degree that we can move pigs and fishes, that is, lower life forms, including our own animal nature. The fifth line, which shows a cock crowing to heaven, indicates misfortune. The cock wants to fly up to heaven but is stuck on earth. Everyone hears its cries and that draws misfortune to it. To avoid misfortune, silence would be best.

The Creative To Possession In Great Measure

(Yet another recent divination suggestive of financial gain -- there are, of course, additional meanings of a more spiritual nature, such as that the higher self needs to assist a struggling lower self, which can be accomplished by 'dispensing wealth downward.')

The Creative is the most powerful hexagram. It is the source of the life energy and all that moves the individual beings in the universe.

Here, the fifth line, which is also the ruler, reads: 'flying dragon in the heavens; it furthers one to see the great man.' A dragon flying in heaven is seen by all creatures. It indicates that our power has reached a stage that we confer with heavenly beings and can help all who encounter us.

Possession In Great Measure shows Fire, Li, in Heaven, Ch'ien. Fire in Heaven, like a meteor shooting across the sky, is highly visible. Supreme success is indicated, the most positive judgement given in the I Ching. It shows the union of clarity and power. The weak fifth line is able to hold the tremendous power of the other five strong lines due to its modesty.

The Family: Balanced Income And Expenses Brings Good Fortune

The Family 37 shows Wind, above, coming forth from Fire, below. It is a simple hexagram that recommends following the character of a well-run and ordered family. In this way, good fortune is indicated. The fourth line changing indicates that a balance between income and expenditures brings good fortune to the family.

Fellowship With Men 13 is the result. It shows someone leaving the family and entering the broader social world where they find people of like feeling and friendship. The image shows a campfire flaming up toward heaven.

Peace: Heaven On Earth

Peace 11 shows Heaven on Earth. It is one of the most positive hexagrams in the I Ching. It represents a time when those with riches disperse them to those who need them. The fourth line shows that a rich, superior person flutters down to join those below in a modest way because of inner ties between them, there is trust so the superior person can have confidence in his actions. The fifth line also shows the rich, superior man, here giving his daughter, a princess, to someone of lower rank to marry. The ruler instructs his daughter not to be conceited or troublesome but to listen and follow the husband -- she gets no privileges due to her status as a princess in her husband's home.

Breakthrough 43 shows the Lake risen up to Heaven. It indicates that speech, a symbol of the Lake, must be given in the court of the king. It also indicates that it is a time when the good can have justice over the evil. A contrary part of this hexagram's meaning indicates that the time is dangerous just as a cloud heavy with water can drown the land below if not dispersed gently. This event is applied to the rich man who must dispense his wealth to others to prevent evil from occurring.

Retreat To The Flying Bird: To Abandon The World Or Stay And Fight -- Either Choice Is OK

Modesty, the last divination prior to my break, was a good place to end. It meant hidden power -- not posting more divination blogs is in a way to hide my power, at any rate. Today's divination is in some ways the opposite of Modesty. Whereas Modesty indicates hidden power and humility, Retreat indicates the desire and yearning of the Earth for Heaven -- an impossible, unquenchable and extravagant desire. On another level, it indicates the action of Heaven when evil, the two lower lines, mount upward: Heaven retreats beyond the reach of the Earth. Heaven cannot be reached from the Earth; reaching the highest earthly summit still leaves one on Earth. Only those under the sway of delusion think that they can buy a stairway to Heaven.

Retreat shows a time when, as mentioned above, evil mounts upward. The superior man, that is anyone who studies the Changes, sees the character of the time and withdraws strategically. Retreat comes easily in this case because it can be done, as in the fifth line, cheerfully and in the case of the sixth line, very easily because there is no inner attachment to the evil lower lines.

The resulting hexagram is 'Preponderance of the Small' or 'The Flying Bird.' This hexagram shows an exceptional time when our way to influence the world is weakened but we possess reserves of inner strength. Caution, thrift and correct feeling for others is the recommended attitude. A bird may bring a message.