Great Traverses. The ridgepole twists and sags.
Advantageous to have a direction to go. Success.
This is a critical passage, a moment of truth. Stand alone without fear. Step out of conventional ideas. The channels are open. Beware of laziness and adherence to old values under pressure. Implement your highest values and stand by them.
The Image
The old characters show the Great People and three footsteps at a crossroads, a decisive moment expressed as a mountain ridge or boundary and a closed mouth.
Circle of Meanings
A crisis and a critical passage; gather your strength, hold on to your ideals; break the rules, free yourself from stereotypes, conventions and corrupt institutions; the time when you emerge as a true individual. Heart Theme: 1 Inspiring Force of the Dragon.
Spirit Helpers
Wood/Wind beneath the Lake. Eldest Daughter and Youngest Daughter, the Matchmaker and the Mediator, create outer stimulation that drives inner penetration. This is a critical situation, a time to push your principles beyond ordinary limits. Have a noble purpose. The structure of your life is in danger but there is a creative force at work in this breakdown. Stand on your own two feet. Do not listen to conventional thinking. This will bring effective power and success. If your situation does not nourish you, push it over and leave. The roots and the tips of things are fading, so let the strong force gathering in the center penetrate and move you. This is a very important time.
Voice of the Mothers
Stand alone without fear. This is the critical passage when you emerge as a real individual. Inner self-cultivation now brings you the ability to express the spirit in the human community. Articulate a new time and a new world for all (60). Do not focus on establishing your own dwelling (37).
Da Guo, Great Traverses or the Great Transition is a dialogue between structure, the house and the ridgepole as the social structures that support and constrain us, and the process of becoming a true individual, a great being with an individual identity free of social conventions. It represents the initiation of a noble child through which he becomes a warrior and acquires a ritual presence, the transition of marriage, the transition to a higher class or becoming a high ranking lord. It is the transition time in a ritual, a passage through liminal space where structures dissolve, a re-ordering of fundamental principles. It is a matter of life and death, of letting go of the past and crossing the threshold, a crisis in life when you must stand by what you know to be true and find the power to exist independent of collective norms.
Winter (28): Find the seed of the new by standing alone without fear. Think about real goals and take a decisive stand for change.
Spring (43): Rouse new growth by decisively parting from old patterns. Let new developments be seen. Search out new companions.
Summer (1): Ripen the fruits. Act slowly and carefully to build your base.
Fall (44): Harvest the crop by letting the emerging new patterns move you. Prepare things carefully. Make no impulsive decisions.
Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing 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 crisis brought about by an inappropriate concentration of strength.
Caring for Others: People and resources are trapped. Shift the load. Let go of your pet projects. Drain energy off and focus it elsewhere. This creates a transition which can be realized as an increased state of freedom and enlarged possibilities. Do not dramatize the situation, but do take deliberate action.
Setting Intentions: Be prepared to change methods, assumptions and goals. Do not let others influence your judgment. Take risks to bring the matter under control. Have courage. There is no easy way out. Act now.
Communication and Interaction: Static and confusion. Impose order and synchronize forces. Take advice from qualified people only. You need help. The situation is uncomfortable but will change rapidly.
Change from the Inside Out: New initiatives are not auspicious now. Act now – no further learning or growth is needed. The best answers will be intuitive, spontaneous, flow naturally from need. Your resources are at risk now. Conserve energy. Seek support – it will not be easy but you need it.
- Immediate Future: a critical moment when you must stand alone.
- Personal Development: separate yourself from conventions and stereotypes.
- Working within the Family: encourage independence and direct perception.
- Expanding the Circle: make radical changes to overcome this crisis.
- Partnership: assert your real principles. Face the crisis squarely.
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 Realizing 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.
Offer the sacrifice using a mat of white mao-grass.
This is not a mistake.
When you look at your problems you fall into self-pity reject your creative power. Prepare your beginnings. Be simple, humble and pure. Change the place you find support by changing your stand on things. All cause for sorrow will disappear. If you use force you will not win. Be resolute and part from the past. You are connected to a creative force. (43 Deciding/Breakthrough)
Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
A withered willow gives birth to a shoot.
An older husband acquires a younger consort.
Nothing not advantageous.
In the midst of a crisis something happens that gives everything a new lease on life. Shake things up and clear the channels through which spirit and energy flow. Do not discipline people or set out on an expedition now. Diminishing your forward drive will augment you in the end. A hasty move will lead to nothing but trouble. You are coupled with a creative force. (31 Conjoining)
Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
The ridgepole warps and buckles. Trap! The Way closes.
The structure of your life is failing. You are rejecting the real sources of nourishment. Do not beat yourself against impossible obstacles and grasp at things that can only hurt you. This could be an ever-flowing source of energy. Find supportive friends. Gather the energy for a decisive new move. (47 Confining/Oppression)
Outer World
Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
The ridgepole is crowned. Wise Words! The Way is open.
If you try to add more, there will be distress.
You have come through the great transition. If you do not add more, your life will be crowned anew. Clear the sources of nourishment. Bite through obstacles to union. This is a time of inner preparation that lets you connect with the common good. If you let yourself be led you can realize hidden potential. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (48 The Well)
Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
A withered willow gives birth to flowers.
An older wife acquires a young noble as husband.
Bundled in the bag. Without mistake, without praise.
Something occurs that results in a burst of beauty. This clears the channels through which energy flows. Enjoy it. Reject the rules most people live by. Imagine this through the woman and the receptive and it will endure. You have a generous and benevolent heart. Let it be your way to actualize things. Be resolute. You are connected to a creative force. (32 Persevering)
Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
If you exceed stepping in to the water now,
you will be submerged to the top of your head.
Trap! The Way closes.
Do not make this mistake and the cause for sorrow will disappear.
These are deep and troubled waters. Do not be swept away. An old delusion is returning, the need for wealth and power. If you set the armies marching like this you face disaster. Do the inner work. If you do not act this out the cause for sorrow will disappear. Be resolute. You are connected to a creative force. (44 Coupling)