Cyndi Clark
Feb 22, 202111 min
The oracle for last week was another repeat in a hexagram I drew for the weekly Yijing project. In my experience for one hexagram to repeat in a few weeks’ time is unusual. I have never had it happen two castings in a row- so that makes it seem momentous. Or at least, the meaning is highlighted. It made me pay attention, in short. The first time in 2021 the hexagram 36- "Darkening of the Light" was cast was in the beginning of the year, the week of January 3rd. During that week, in the US, there was unprecedented political upheaval and we were starting the new solar year still within the grip of a crippling pandemic. Since then, we have observed several holidays- Imbolc, Lunar New Year, St. Valentine's Day; two new moons and a full moon. In the six weeks since the first drawing of "Darkening of the Light", Punxsutawney Phil, the famous Pennsylvania groundhog, saw his shadow (February 2), thus predicting a longer winter for those of us in North America this year. Of course, this was not without controversy- Shubenacadie Sam, the Canadian groundhog and Buckeye Chuck, from Ohio, two solid, respectable groundhogs, both predicted early spring instead for 2021. By now, though we see, Buckeye Chuck was just wrong, but for all I know, Shubenacadie Sam could have been wrong or right- a light sheet of ice and snow (as I am seeing outside my window) could very well be perfect early spring weather in Canada. It took me a while to pull these thoughts together, so already a week has passed and there is another reading and article- if you would like to skip ahead to that, see the link below.
Unlike the first drawing, this time, there was a changing line that carries a theme about being true to who you are-and that has inspired my little blurb following. Though the reading over all hinted at the influence of darker energies coming to an end (as they always do in the Springtime or in the cycles of the moon), the lines captured my imagination and inspired some meditation on the qualities of kindness, compassion and authenticity.
36: Line 5- "Six in the fifth place means darkening of the light as with Prince Chi. Perserverance furthers." (I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes online) The background story on Prince Chi, or Jizi, is below.
On the line reading for hexagram 63:
Line 5: "The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox does not attain as much real happiness as the neighbor in the west with his small offering” Commentary: “A simple sacrifice offered with piety holds a greater blessing than an impressive service without warmth.” [I Ching 63]
I don’t always read the Yijing in a religious context, but being interested in comparative religions and spirituality, I was inspired by this one to look at sources from the Judeo-Christian points of view on some of the themes apparent in this reading. Also, since the reading was rich with some mythological and historical figures from Chinese culture, and those represent many of the ideas discussed in the Yijing, I wanted to flesh those out for people who may want to understand more closely how the ideas from this ancient text may translate to real world experiences in our times (skip ahead, here).
I did some research to find out what the terms “authentic” and “generous” from the Jewish traditional perspective might be and found a beautiful article on the concept of tzedakah, which can be translated as “righteousness”, but is also commonly referred to in the sense of charity or giving of oneself. Specifically, Rabbi Yonatan Cohen considers the idea of generosity and whether it should be a core value cultivated in religious people. Is it possible to be a stingy person, living a “miserly” life (or the reverse, an indulgent life), giving little or giving to be seen and still truly be a person of faith? He discusses Abraham as a person who did more than give charity; he is distinguished (chosen by God) because he was the embodiment of a charitable person- his giving was not a show of power, of wealth or of piety. This gives the trait a completely different connotation; it is not something that is measured by amounts of “fill in the blank” things. How much money one possesses to give is dependent on so many things that often have nothing to do with the sort of person one is. Abraham was walking a path (his Dao) of tzedakah with which he was One. “Through his capacity to give not only of his means but also of himself, not only of his time and energy but also of his heart and ears, Abraham was able to transform the lives of many, ultimately inspiring them to continue walking in his path of tzedakah.” (Rabbi Yonatan Cohen)
This line is clearly analogous to the biblical story of the woman who gave an offering of only a few coins, a pittance in comparison to others in the congregation who gave more impressive sums of money. Though others judged her gift as pitiful, Jesus did not, saying, she gave all she had in her offering, sincerely and without complaining. Jesus points out to them that the value of her offering was greater than others’, because even though there were plenty of people who had given more money, their hearts held back; their commitment was not equal to their gifts which were given for ego and not in service.
“Warning Against the Teachers of the Law and The Widow's Offering"
38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” (The widow's offering:)
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Also compare to the story of the rich young man whom Jesus told to give up all his possessions to the poor to follow him (the Way). The young man walked away bummed out; this apparently was not an answer he expected since he had lived in accordance with his traditional upbringing and felt that was more than enough. Authenticity in a spiritual life entails something deeper than following a set of rules to the “T”, like the terms of a contract and giving a certain percentage of total income. Following one’s Dao seems to require something much more nuanced than a human contract. To surf the waves of the universal ocean requires more than technique.
Laozi- Daodejing, 36:
“What you would shorten/ you first should lengthen/ what you would weaken/ you first should strengthen/ what you would topple/ you first should raise/ what you would take/ you first should give/ this is called hiding the light/ the weak conquering the strong/ fish can’t survive out of the depths/ a state’s greatest weapon/ isn’t meant to be shown.” (Red Pine, p. 72)
Follow links to other sections (or just read right on through).
Images for reading and descriptions
Nuclear Hexagrams
Story in the Lines
Closing comments
If you would like to jump ahead to this weeks' reading, you can click here
Initial Reading:
Week of February 14 through 20, 2021
36-Darkening of the Light transforms through Line 5 to 63-After Completion
36: 5- Darkening of the Light 63: After Completion
36. Míng Yí / Darkening of the Light (on your left)
Six in the fifth place means:
Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi
Perseverance furthers.
Line 5: (background story below). Prince Chi, also called Jizi, had a reason to darken his light; this line suggests doing likewise is a good idea.
63. Jí jì / After Completion (on your right)
Line 5: "The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox does not attain as much real happiness as the neighbor in the west with his small offering”
Nuclear Trigrams (these provide an idea about the inner workings/ energies of the hexagram 36):
40 (Jiě)- Deliverance 64 (Wèi Jì) Before Completion
The hexagrams symbolizing the concepts of ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Before Completion’ are formed from the base hexagram, Darkening of the Light. This shows the energy within the concept has a quality of liberation that is not yet accomplished, but is in the process of unfolding. In hexagram 40, the Trigrams are Thunder over water.
LiSe interprets this “jiĕ” as ‘release the horns’ because the original pictograph shows hands releasing a set of horns. It is the kind of release that comes from knowing when to hold on and when to let go. Being aware from within what is right from what is wrong such that one doesn’t have to worry doing the right thing. It is obvious from the template of the soul. Zhen (Thunder) is often understood as the sound and force of the voice of the Divine or the voice of one's innermost conscience. There is also a connotation of doing what is necessary in the moment and not feeling guilt or shame later (being freed from those conditional labels)
“Hex.40 is when nothing is predefined, it is the moment and the intuition which decide the action. Hex.40 is the hexagram of the archer who releases the arrow at the right moment and exactly on its target. Not by aiming consciously but because nothing else exists for him right then. (LiSe on 40)
Trigrams that make up 64- Fire over Water- so 40 contains Thunder, the voice of the Divine, and 64 contains Fire, the illumination, the light of the Divine.
64 is the natural progression of completion into the next phase, as distinct from the state of flux, described in 63- After Completion, where things are happening, but still not obvious.
Each sunset signals the end of the daytime and the beginning of nighttime; similarly, each dawn signals the end of nighttime and the beginning of daytime. One thing follows upon the other in a pattern, a cycle and each thing happens at its proper time. Even when we fervently wish for a day or night to end, it still takes the time it takes. "Who knows in what wonderful place you might end up, if you let your heart, or the little miracles, or the love you encounter, or whatever else you meet on that journey, decide about the next turn on your road?" (Lise on 64)
The Story in the Lines:
Most of the lines in #36, unlike last week’s Wanderer story do not tell a story; this time, there is a theme in development, though our changing line 5 does allude to a historical situation. The theme of 36 is of the concealment of light (in many interpretations, “wounding” of the light) and there are references to different types of wounding due to dark conditions, until the end, when darkness wounds and destroys itself, as it always must.
There are several associated stories, here are two of them: one a myth and the other a story during the rebellion against and later defeat of the Shang dynasty by the Zhou family.
The myth of Yì the Archer:
Hòu Yì (known also as Shen Yì or just Yì) is a mythological archer from Chinese lore- sometimes considered the god of archery; he is husband to the lunar deity, Chang’e. He was gifted the pill of immortality by the Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West) for saving the earth when it was threatened by the heat of 10 suns shining upon it at the same time. He tried to reason with them to tamp it down, then he tried to intimidate them by mock shooting at them with his bow and arrows. When they didn’t respond to that he began to shoot them down for real, one by one. Only one could live, iit was spared by the request of the sun’s mother and King Yao. Each sun that died turned into a 3-legged raven. These tripod ravens are part of a mythological line of legends- golden ravens or Sun Crows. Ancient texts describe them as the type who, will consume massive amounts of certain kinds of grass, destroying eco-systems and ruining agricultural potential. Symbolically, it could be that they represent members of a clan or family who were exploiting the land during the time of Yi’s ancient ancestors. Purely conjecture on my part, though.
Another version of this myth talks about how Yì, initially a hero and leader loved by the people, misused his power ultimately becoming a tyrant. His wife, afraid that if he lived forever, his subjugation and cruelty would be endless also, stole his immortality pill, taking it herself, escaping to the moon and becoming the goddess of the moon. This carries within it the idea from above that each day follows upon another in a predictable pattern- what starts out pleasant enough turns treacherous after a while. Power over people is a difficult destiny to maintain- even a folk hero like Yì apparently succumbed to the corrosive influence it has on the human psyche. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Who was Jizi (known also as Prince Chi)?
Jizi (pictured left) was an uncle of the last Shang Emperor, Di Xin who is the tyrant mentioned in line 5- was a royal figure who had a brilliant start and was admired in the beginning, but was rumored to have fallen into depravity and utterly insane cruelty during the end of the dynasty. (About Jizi)
Di Xin, was given a pejorative posthumous nick name- Zhou Xin, which refers to a horse crupper- the part of a saddle placed around the horse’s hind quarters to keep it from slipping forward and most likely to be dirtied by the horse. (ref. Zhou Xin)
It is difficult to tell which stories of Zhou Xin’s rumored excessive perversion and cruelty are true. He was not a man who had much respect when it was said and done, but he was known to be dangerously cruel. Zhou Xin had already killed his other uncle, Bi Gan, supposedly by ripping his heart out of his chest just to see what the heart of a sage looked like. Jizi, as a relative and compulsory member of Di Xin’s court had to pretend to be insane to avoid being tortured and killed next by his nephew. Instead of being killed, he was imprisoned in the court of Zhou Xin where he could continue his work- his destiny. The line is a message for those who are in this kind of difficult situation- do what is necessary to survive without compromising who you really are.
Finally, ending comments:
A dark period completes itself (in our circumstance, this could be coming through the winter, through the political and moral upheaval of the past several years; personally- this could be referring to a time of having to hide one’s light, or when people of “lesser” good will have had the upper hand in some situation or another; maybe even those traits and qualities of our own character which are not from our better angels have been dominant); the stagnation of energies from the step before it (the standstill) that brought everything into the darkness brings a close to it (evil burns itself out). Another cycle begins. Inner driver of the reading is about liberation/ deliverance.
Now is not the time, however, to “pack your toys and just go home”; though equilibrium has been established, it is in a fragile state and can be tampered with. 63- After Completion does not mean all is finished- it is the phase, a flux in between the past and the commencement of the next phase. Lise: “Chaos and order alternate.” Early dawn is the moment of the day when we know the sun is on its ascent, yet it is still dark outside and caution must be taken because things can still hide in the darkness. There is still a kind of danger that would necessitate keeping the spiritual nature under wraps. After the tendency to go within to discover ourselves and our destinies is playing out into the more active spring, the wisdom revealed in the dark encounters the first test of it's mettle.
I hope this information provides a benefit for you!
Cyndi