Trial: Wise Words! The Way is open.
View the Jaws. Seek the origin of what goes in and out of our mouths.
Consider your words carefully and use them to bring people together. Don’t go on alone. Beware of hesitation, lack of imagination, failure to use creative input. Seek creative balance and enhanced scope to meet basic needs.
The Image
The old character shows the Tiger’s Mouth and a person with a big head filled with spirit, an influx that purifies and illuminates.
Circle of Meanings
Renew the sources of literal and spiritual nourishment; our daily bread and our connection with the spirit; what goes in and out of the mouth, eating, speaking, spreading the word; take in the lessons of the past. Heart Theme: 2 Field/Yielding and the primal power of Realization.
Spirit Helpers
Mountain over Thunder. Youngest Son and Eldest Son, the Gatekeeper and the Groundbreaker, are sacrificing previous accomplishments to rouse new growth. You encounter a force that clears away stagnation and opens the channels to let energy flow freely. Take in what has been said and done in order to nourish the new. Contemplate what nourishes people and what you are nourishing. Seek out the source of what goes in and out of your mouth. Provide what is necessary for all. Contemplate these things deeply, for the answer to your questions lies there. Correct and articulate the source of literal and spiritual nourishment, what you eat, drink, think and speak. Heaven and Earth nourish the myriad beings. The sages nourish what is excellent and extend it to others. This is a time to be great.
Voice of the Mothers
Clear the channels of nourishment by eliminating corrupt patterns. Take things in and learn the lessons of the past. Provide what is necessary for all. Accepting the shock of inner enlightenment now reveals the patterns that mark real endings and beginnings. Spread abundance to all (55). Do not focus on your experiences of being an outcast (38).
Yi, Jaws/the Tiger’s Mouth refers to the sacrifice and ritual meal offered on all important occasions through which we nourish and are nourished by the spirits and the world of the invisible. It is an initiatory ordeal where the spirit of the Tiger eats away all that is corrupted (gu) in our inner world, letting us feel the awesome presence of the spirit that both nourishes and destroys. The word refers literally refers to the jaws and lower part of the head that allow us to eat and to speak, supporting or bracing the activities that nourish us literally and spiritually. It means to take in and understand what is past in order to nourish the future, eating the ancient virtue. It points at the great value of the words of the oracles, the spirit words that nourish us and connect us with Heaven and the necessity to make them a part of our lives. This figure is an important part of the Secret Sickness Pathways that link personal and cultural disorders, representing the force of the Tiger that eats the corruption of the past within us. To nourish the people, it is of first importance to see and seek the invisible presence that supports us and fills our mouths. This lets us nourish the Ancestors who in turn nourish and ennoble their descendants in a flow of radiant blessings.
Summer (27): Ripen the fruits by clearing the channels of communication. Use your imagination and don’t fall into self-pity. Any cause for sorrow will soon disappear.
Fall (23): Harvest the crop by changing the way you think and your approach. Let new results show you what to do next. Make real changes. Don’t just switch the way you present things.
Winter (2): Find the seed of the new. The situation will stabilize gradually. Be receptive and follow its lead.
Spring (24): Rouse new growth through returning to your flow. Don’t just think about it, do something. Don’t go back to your old ways.
Voice of the Fathers
This is an Inspiring Figure, an Engine and Heart Theme of Change that recharges experience with meaning and energy. It is a key site on the Sacred Sickness Pathways that connect personal disorders with cultural change and the Mission of the stage of the Symbolic Life that centers on initiation, finding a relation to culture and the search for an image of the deeper self.
The Situation: A time to broaden perspectives, use creative potential and develop the capacity to nourish emotional, cultural and spiritual needs.
Caring for Others: Focus on the fundamental needs of those who look up to you to provide the base for broader usefulness and general well-being. Find a balance that provides for the development of wider possibilities by making the best possible use of existing resources.
Setting Intentions: Concentrate on maintaining an outstanding flow of caring on all levels. Brighten your image. Expand how you evaluate things. Take chances on the new. Scan for improvements and upgrade the way you do things. Focus on education and training.
Communication and Interaction: You are not listening or remembering good suggestions. A fresh flow of ideas is needed to energize the family. Be flexible and encourage new perspectives.
Change from the Inside Out: Be more imaginative and receptive. Bring in an independent advisor. Use available creative energy to greater effect. Revitalize the way you present thing and your powers of persuasion. Show flair and imagination.
- Immediate Future: face eating and communication problems.
- Personal Development: clear the body channels through which spirit flows.
- Working within the Family: dissolve obstacles to the free flow of inspiring energy.
- Expanding the Circle: correct energy flow by focusing on staff needs.
- Partnership: evaluate what you say and do together. Be nourishing.
Pairing: Bringing Change to Life
Each hexagram is part of a Pair that that activates hidden paths of transformative energy through the interaction of the trigrams or Spirit Helpers, connecting phases of Inspiration and Realization. You are in the Inspiring phase of this Pair.
The Pair 27:28 Tiger’s Mouth and Great Transition is an Engine of Change that develops the courage to face the past and stand up for what you know is right.
Outer to Inner: The process transforms the Gatekeeper trigram in the outer world of 27 into the Matchmaker trigram in the inner world of 28. This turns abstract awareness of patterns into self-cultivation.
Inner to Outer: This interiorisation transforms the Groundbreaker trigram in the inner world of 27 into the Mediator trigram in the outer world of 28. This turns the shock of inner enlightenment into the ability to express the spirit in the human community.
Transforming Lines
Mothering Change presents Transforming Lines as Steps of Change that show you where and how to focus your energy. Click on the links to connect with the Relating Figure generated by each line.
Inner World
Step 1 Beginnings: This return of the spirit attracts a new fate.
Abandoned by the Numinous Turtle, you say:
View our jaws hanging down. Trap! The Way closes. Take this in!
You reject your own imagination and creativity and fall into melancholy. Strip all this away. Change the place you find support and intimacy by changing your stand on things. The cause for sorrow will disappear. If you use force in the outer world you will not overcome the opposition you face. Be open and provide what is needed. (23 Stripping)
Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Shaking the Jaws, clearing the channels, rejecting the rules.
Move to the hilltop shrine and make an offering.
Chastising closes the Way. Take this in!
Shake things up and move to your hidden place of inspiration. Do not discipline people or set out on an expedition. Diminishing your forward drive will augment you in the end. A hasty move leads to nothing but trouble. Something important is returning. Be open and provide what is needed. (41 Diminishing)
Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
Rejecting the Jaws. Trial: Trap! The Way closes.
If you go on like this you will not be able to act for ten years.
Take it in! There is no advantageous direction.
You are rejecting the source of nourishment. You beat yourself against impossible obstacles and grasp at what can only hurt you. Let go of these ideas. If you go on like this the structure of your life will buckle and fail. This could be an ever-flowing source of energy. These comings and goings release energy now bound up in the past. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (22 Adorning)
Outer World
Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
Shaking the Jaws. The Way is open. This is not a mistake.
A Tiger observing, glaring, glaring; pursuing, pursuing the dark desires.
The source of nourishment is disturbed. Passionately search out the new. Bite through the obstacles to union. This is an arduous task but you will acquire something of great value in the end. Do the inner work. If you do not add more, your life will be crowned anew. These goings and comings release energy bound in the past. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (21 Biting Through)
Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
Clearing the channels. Rejecting the rules.
Trial: Wise Words! Staying in your residence opens the Way.
This does not let you step into the Great Stream. Take it in!
Stay where you are and clear the channels through which energy flows. You have a connection to the spirit and a benevolent heart. Let this be your way to actualize things. Imagine this time through the feminine and receptive rather than the masculine and aggressive and a flowering will result, a real burst of beauty. Strip away your old ideas. Be open and provide what is needed. (42 Augmenting)
Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
Jaws. Nourished at the source.
You face Adversity, the hungry souls and angry ghosts.
Wise Words! The Way is open. Take it in!
Advantageous to step into the Great Stream.
You are nourished by what came before you. Go back and correct things. An old delusion is returning, the desire for wealth and power. If you set the armies marching like this you face disaster. Couple vigorously with the inner influence. If you simply step into the troubled waters in front of you now, you will be swept away. Be open and provide what is needed. (24 Returning)