Sojourning through the Small.
Make an offering and you will succeed. Advantageous Trial.
The Image
The old character shows two soldiers on a mission following a flag or banner that is the sign of a distant center.
Spread the word outside the network; a seeker and a quest, the wandering sage or minister who establishes relations with the borderlands; journeys, voyages outside the norms, staying in places other than your home; soldiers on a mission beyond the frontiers, all those who travel the roads. Inner self-restraint now leads to finding real directions in life. Heart Theme: 28 the Great Transition and emergence as an individual.
Spirit Helpers
Fire on the Mountain. Middle Daughter and Father, the Visionary and the Creator, are creating an inner field that supports changing awareness. Set out on your quest. Spread the word outside your normal network. Be willing to travel and search. Do not impose your ideas. Adapt to what crosses your path. Mingle with others as an emissary bringing news from the distant center. You are on a mission of real importance. You can be successful by being small, adapting to each thing that comes and not trying to impose your will or your ideas. Realize that you are outside the social network, on a quest of your own. Make clear and independent decisions even if they are painful. Limit and stabilize your desires when you encounter others. By doing these things, you will discover what you are seeking.
Voice of the Mothers
Step out of the usual and set off on your quest. Stay small and adapt to what comes. Be willing to search alone. Inner self-restraint now leads to finding real directions in life. Disentangle from the collective ghosts that hold you (25). Do not focus on all the details (9).
The root of Lu, Sojourning is fang, direction, the Four Sides, wandering in all directions to the four Hidden Lands where we encounter the Hidden Winds, traveling in both literal and spiritual realms. Lu is an army unit (500-1000 men) on campaign, a central banner or standard, a ritual vessel for offering food and wine (lu-ding), a rest house or an inn, making a halt on a journey, a breathing space. The word connects with Lu, Treading, the Name of figure 10 and the Wu or Intermediaries it represents, the spiritual wanderers who travel in the Hidden Lands. Sojourning suggests wanderers, herdsmen, knights errant and wandering diviner/magicians, all those who travel on the roads. It is the King on the ritual tour of the borders held immediately after the heng-ritual of fixing abundance at high summer. The good sojourner is King Wu himself, inspecting the boundaries of the new kingdom and connecting the few after the victory over the Shang and the execution of the Shang tyrant. The careless sojourner is the nomad war-god Wang Hai, who danced for the King of Yi and inflamed the King’s wife who succumbed to passion. He was killed by her husband the King, losing his flocks in Yi.
Fall (56): Harvest the crop by sticking to your principles and connections. Do not deviate from what you must do. Go through all the steps. It will bring you all you want.
Winter (62): Find the seed of the new by making very careful moves. Stay low and humble. Be sincere. Rescue what is important. Hold on to the hidden connections. They lead to honor and reward.
Spring (55): Rouse new growth by spreading abundance. Seize the opportunity and take decisive action. Don’t be afraid to act alone.
Summer (30): Ripen the fruits by evaluating your motives and feelings. Be careful taking the first steps. Don’t get trapped by the past.
Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing Figure, part of a Zone of Radical Transformation when the Bright Omens that guide people’s lives become words that carry to a new generation. It is an experience of the Centers of Power in the stage of the Symbolic Life when we must deal with power and our responsibilities to the human community.
The Situation: A time to travel as a stranger and a guest to make hidden connections.
Caring for Others: Act as an emissary and messenger who facilities relations between families and cultures. You can expect cooperation and welcome if you are well disposed. Adapt to the ways of the other. Follow their rules and customs and you will succeed in making important global connections.
Setting Intentions: Auspicious for travel and far reaching alliances.
Communication and Interaction: Be constructive, positive and modest. You will get what you give. Be open-minded. Share ideas and information.
Change from the Inside Out: Share your ideas widely; be adventurous and courteous in presenting your thoughts and persuading others. Show respect and tune your strategy to the place. Introduce new possibilities gently. Understand the local sense of humor. Think globally. Be modest about plans for new endeavors.
- Immediate Future: set off on your individual journey.
- Personal Development: adapt to and learn from each thing you encounter.
- Working within the Family: act carefully and quietly. Realize you are the outsider.
- Expanding the Circle: win cooperation by welcoming the new.
- Partnership: you are on your own. Think about what you can offer.
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 transformative process of the pair 55:56 Abounding and the Sojourner develops the freedom to offer abundance to all and the courage to carry the message into the world.
Outer to Inner: The process transforms the Groundbreaker trigram in the outer world of 55 into the Gatekeeper trigram in the inner world of 56. This turns your awareness of the whole into a stabilizing inner restraint.
Inner to Outer: This interiorisation shifts the clarity and awareness of the Visionary trigram from the inner world of 55 to the outer world of 56, turning inner guidance into the ability to find real directions in life.
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
The journey in fragments, cling! clang!
You are split off from your place and grasp disaster.
Your journey is falling apart before it has begun because you are grasping at all the little details. Do you really want to act like this? Do not stay in mourning for the past. Your melancholy and pain are in danger of destroying you. Organize yourself and set off. There will be excellent results. You are connected to a creative force. (30 Radiance/Visionary)
Approaching a rest house. Take care of your goods.
You acquire a young vassal. Advantageous Trial.
You make a new friend who is willing to help you. Your inner pattern will brighten outer events for you have something real cooking within you. Your old companions are jealous but they cannot harm you. Be resolute and part from the past. You are connected to a creative force. (50 The Vessel)
Burning down the rest house, you lose your young vassal.
Adversity, the hungry souls and angry ghosts.
You destroy what you have found through violent passions. Try to understand this. It could mark a profound change to a new state of being. Reclaim your lost intelligence. You can find the force moving events and acquire the capacity to move with it. Your sorrows will vanish. These comings and goings release energy bound in the past. Prepare the decisive new move. (35 Flourishing)
Outer World
You find a place to abide, acquire goods and an emblem ax.
“My heart is not glad”.
You have found a place to abide with responsibility and power but deep in your heart you know a greater mission awaits. You see such extraordinary sights that you lose the capacity to respond. A fertilizing shock will revive your creative energy, releasing the energy now bound up in the past. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (52 Bound/Gatekeeper)
The Sojourner shoots a pheasant, with one arrow it disappears.
Bringing this to completion brings praise and a mandate.
You can complete the purpose of your journey with one try. This brings you praise and the chance to serve something great. Although you still feel isolated you have a link to deep energies working at a great distance to create new connections. Push on. You have found real excellence. You are coupled with a creative force. (33 Retiring/Retreat)
The bird burns down its nest.
The Sojourner first laughs, then cries out and sobs. He loses his cattle.
Trap! The Way closes.
You are being careless and arrogant. Go on like this and everything you care about will vanish. Consider your attitudes very carefully. You have encountered something that can change the course of your life. If you hold onto the connection it will bring you honor and reward. If you fly away you will be cut off. You are connected with a creative force. (62 Small Traverses/Flying Bird)