Southwest advantageous. Northeast not advantageous.
Advantageous to see the Great People.
Wise Words! The Way is open. Put your ideas to the Trial.
Don’t be a hero. Join with others and re-imagine the situation. Reverse direction and renovate your inner power. Beware of narrow-minded attitudes and egocentricity. Be humble, find help and change your basic attitudes.
The Image
The old character shows a person with an injured foot in a hut packed with grass or straw, the sealing of the houses in winter when all activity ceased.
Circle of Meanings
Obstacles, afflictions, feeling hampered, overcome, exhausted, mentally oppressed; weak, crooked, unfortunate; let go of lonely striving and join with others, overcome difficulties by re-imagining the situation; honest, frank, strong, resistant; the goings and comings that prepare deliverance. Inner self-restraint now brings you the ability to manage the flow and flux of life. Heart Theme: 63 the ongoing process of Change.
Spirit Helpers
Ghost River over Mountain. Middle Son and Youngest Son, the Groundbreaker and the Gatekeeper, are creating an inner constraint that limits outer flow. You confront many obstacles and feel afflicted but the major obstacle is the way you are thinking. See the situation in a new way. Let go of lonely struggles and dwelling on the past. See those who can help you realize what is great in yourself. Join with others in view of future gains. Retreating and joining with others (the southwest) brings profit and insight. Do not go on your lonely and heroic way, isolated and caught up in the past (the northeast). Though this is a difficult and arduous time, it contains the possibility of renovating your inner power and your connection to the Way. There is danger in front of you and behind you. By re-imagining this situation you can connect with what is great. Gather energy for a decisive new move.
Voice of the Mothers
Let go of heroic striving and re-imagine the situation. Do not dwell on the past. Join with others in view of future gains. Inner self-restraint now brings you the ability to manage the flow and flux of life. The spirit has returned and you must protect its growth (24). Do not focus on accumulating the great yourself (26).
Jian, limping invokes the culture hero Yu the Great, the Limping God who tamed the flood, created writing, cast the first sacred vessels and opened the channels of the Water Way. It combines the meanings lame, limping, hobbled, difficulties, poverty and suffering with the meanings straight, honest and frank. The advice is progress not possible, stop and change your ideas. This is all imaged in the person of Yu, who established the divinatory Vessels, the Nine Ding, clearing communication with the spirit world, founding the Noble Houses and redeeming his father, the disgraced and executed Gun. The figure of Yu limps on through great difficulties, flowing like water, a sign of selfless toil and an enduring connection with the underworld reflected in the term that runs through this figure, wang lai, going and coming. It represents the Great Stream or river of time that flows through us, the past, the dead and the waters of the dead and the seed-symbols (shen and xiang) that flow towards us from Heaven. The shuffling movement on the stream of time is the Step of Yu used in many rituals. It represents the dynamic of Limping: “bad influence going; seeds of good are coming.” This change in time occurs through a shift in awareness, the change from northeast, which suggests the past and lonely striving, to the southwest, common effort and future good.
Winter (39): Find the seed of the new by opening yourself to new ideas. Brake your wheels, take your time. Let the old dissolve. Everything will benefit.
Spring (63): Rouse new growth by co-operating with the ongoing process. Do not fall into the traps of the past. You have all you need to go on. It will bring you all you hope for.
Summer (37): Ripen the fruits. Secure your organization first, and then seek new alliances. Do not follow the old ways.
Fall (53): Harvest the crop through slow and sure moves. Your difficulties will vanish. Seek advice from those important to you. You are in the right position to achieve everything you have aimed at.
Voice of the Fathers
This is an Inspiring Figure and Heart Theme of Change. It is a Transition from our struggle to found an individual dwelling, family and career to the stage of the Symbolic Life that confers higher levels of empowerment in culture and a new ritual status on the fully individualized being.
The Situation: A time of difficulties and obstructions that you cannot cope with directly.
Caring for Others: Your available resources are inadequate to deal with this situation. Do not jump to conclusions or follow usual practices. Seek out fresh insight. This is a personal challenge. The outer difficulties are directly connected to inner blocks on self-awareness. Be calm, persevere and seek outside advice from an experienced consultant or personal guide.
Setting Intentions: Review plans and realign long-term perspectives. Short term problems are self-evident and pressing.
Communication and Interaction: The feedback you give is negative; what you receive is positive. Realign your reactions and responses. Be willing to listen to others. Heed the counsel given. Help can come from unexpected and unlikely sources.
Change from the Inside Out: Growth is arrested, development not feasible. Seek new support. Your creative judgment is not good, so avoid persuasion.
- Immediate Future: obstacles and affliction begin to dissolve.
- Personal Development: re-imagine yourself in harmony with others.
- Working within the Family: dissolve obstacles to understanding.
- Expanding the Circle: seek new ideas to resolve the problem.
- Partnership: affirm what you have and share it.
Pairing: Bringing Change to Life
Each hexagram is part of a Pair that that activates the hidden paths of transformative energy through the interaction of the trigrams or Spirit Helpers, connecting Inspiration and Realization. You are in the Inspiring phase of this Pair.
The transformative process of the Pair 39:40 Difficulties and Deliverance develops the insight to let go of heroic striving and the energy to move with change.
Outer to Inner: The process shifts the Navigator trigram from the outer world of 39 to the inner world of 40. This turns your struggle to manage the flux of events into an inner containment of fear and impulse.
Inner to Outer: This interiorisation transforms the Gatekeeper trigram in the inner world of 39 into the Groundbreaker trigram in the outer world of 40. This turns inner self restraint into a liberating awareness of the whole.
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
Limping. Difficulties in going, praise and ease are coming.
Resist the temptation to push your way through. Brake your wheels. Let the past dissolve and gather energy for the decisive new move. Everything will benefit from this. You will eliminate a highly placed enemy who is oppressing you. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (63 Already Crossing)
The King’s servant: Difficulties, Difficulties!
His own person is definitely not the cause.
You are pushing on through a sea of troubles. Calm your heart. The difficulties you are facing are not your fault. You are held in an oppressive net of responsibilities by a corrupt authority. Have patience and hold on to what is of real worth. Bring the hidden to light. You will not only be liberated but acquire the ability to help others. Step outside the norms. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (48 The Well)
Limping. Difficulties in going, the reverse is coming.
Do not keep chasing what you want. If you wait calmly the whole situation will reverse itself. You will truly have cause to rejoice. You are grouped with the wrong people and think the wrong thoughts. The army must retreat now. Strip away the old connections. Splitting from what you depend on now will bring a real connection to the new. (8 Grouping)
Outer World
Difficulties in going, the connection is coming.
You feel lonely and think the world is against you but you are beating your head against a brick wall. Your thoughts waver while things go and come, but have no fear. Hidden friends are following you. Your sorrows will soon disappear. Stabilize your heart and give real form to the gift you have received from the spirit. You are connected to a creative force. (31 Conjoining)
In Great Difficulties, partners come.
Though you are in the middle of great difficulties have no fear. New partners will soon be there to help you. A hidden creative force is tearing through the obstacles to find you. The limits you have set yourself are turning you to stone. Seize the moment. Dissolve the obstacles to understanding. You can eliminate hidden enemies and acquire the ability to act decisively. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (15 Humbling)
Difficulties in going, ripeness and abundance are coming.
Wise Words! The Way opens.
Advantageous to see the Great People.
Do not try to impose your will. Simply let go and the situation will drop into your hand. Things are full of promise now. Talk to those who can connect you with what is great in the situation and in yourself. A new world is appearing. Use these signs of union. Now is the time to put things in order. Step out to meet the new fate. Deliverance is coming. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (53 Gradual Advance)