Nov 26 24
Four of Wands
59. Dispersion [Dissolution]
1. The Creative
These first few lines are the general aphoristic returns for the week. They are raw and uninterpreted; there to use how you’d like. (The specific readings follow.)
From “M.S.”: What is some advice for successfully switching gears between projects and modes? Like going from creative writing to being present at dinner to making music to facing/balancing our financial situation to eating more appropriately... We have differing reward systems for each and are different people in different situations — sometimes the gears grind — rarely do they flow together easily...
Additional note: reducing our range of subjects/scenarios/responsibilities is not really an option.
It is your lot for your gears to grind.
Be happy that you have such an intense and rich life.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Four of Wands. This is a card of a kind of foundational solidity — an implication of accord with the varied aspects of a full life. A thriving harvest home is the image — community, family, production, celebration, seasons, their interlocking interconnections. Generally, the understanding of how prosperity works (sacrifice/joy, boundary/meaning).
Our first hexagram this week is 59, Dispersion (Dissolution). The metaphor: warm weather breaking apart ice so it can once again become part of the flow of the river. The implication: we should allow bright truths to break apart our clinging/specific rigidities — so we can healthily join society’s interdependent flow — acknowledge our need for our fellow humans not our isolation. “In the autumn and winter, water begins to freeze into ice. When the warm breezes of spring come, the rigidity is dissolved, and the elements that have been dispersed in ice floes are reunited... Through hardness and selfishness the heart grows rigid, and this rigidity leads to separation from all others. Egotism and cupidity isolate people. Therefore the hearts of people must be seized by a devout emotion… must be shaken by awe in face of eternity.”
There were three changes this week of which the specific notes are: do not spend your power prematurely, true greatness is not impaired by temptation and struggles to be in tune with that which is perpetually dawning, and the hermit sage and the hero do not follow the same path — for the creative leader listening to one’s inner voice without fear, will determine the direction.
Our second hexagram or how best to meet the changes is #1, The Creative. We relish the appearance of this hexagram; it is the first, and perhaps, the most determinant of all the others. The Creative (writ large), whether human or of non-human nature, is that which gives form to potential. More so, sublimity is the perseverance and pursuance of the manifestation of one’s (or a process’) most dignified/natural aspects. It is very in line with a sentiment that comes up often here — life is not about doing the right thing it’s about trying to do the right thing.
- Prosperity requires a wide ranging understanding — a grand give/take.
- Acknowledging the truth of human interdependence will melt the rigidity of solipsism allowing the individual to healthily join society’s flow. Isolation is a lie; mutual reliance (and resilience) is not.
- Do not spend your power prematurely; timing is about deeply understanding that which is always dawning.
- Life is not about doing the right thing it’s about trying to do the right thing (constantly).
- The Creative is that which gives form to potential.
From “M.S.”: What is some advice for successfully switching gears between projects and modes? Like going from creative writing to being present at dinner to making music to facing/balancing our financial situation to eating more appropriately... We have differing reward systems for each and are different people in different situations — sometimes the gears grind — rarely do they flow together easily...
Additional note: reducing our range of subjects/scenarios/responsibilities is not really an option.
It is your lot for your gears to grind.
Be happy that you have such an intense and rich life.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Four of Wands. This is a card of a kind of foundational solidity — an implication of accord with the varied aspects of a full life. A thriving harvest home is the image — community, family, production, celebration, seasons, their interlocking interconnections. Generally, the understanding of how prosperity works (sacrifice/joy, boundary/meaning).
Our first hexagram this week is 59, Dispersion (Dissolution). The metaphor: warm weather breaking apart ice so it can once again become part of the flow of the river. The implication: we should allow bright truths to break apart our clinging/specific rigidities — so we can healthily join society’s interdependent flow — acknowledge our need for our fellow humans not our isolation. “In the autumn and winter, water begins to freeze into ice. When the warm breezes of spring come, the rigidity is dissolved, and the elements that have been dispersed in ice floes are reunited... Through hardness and selfishness the heart grows rigid, and this rigidity leads to separation from all others. Egotism and cupidity isolate people. Therefore the hearts of people must be seized by a devout emotion… must be shaken by awe in face of eternity.”
There were three changes this week of which the specific notes are: do not spend your power prematurely, true greatness is not impaired by temptation and struggles to be in tune with that which is perpetually dawning, and the hermit sage and the hero do not follow the same path — for the creative leader listening to one’s inner voice without fear, will determine the direction.
Our second hexagram or how best to meet the changes is #1, The Creative. We relish the appearance of this hexagram; it is the first, and perhaps, the most determinant of all the others. The Creative (writ large), whether human or of non-human nature, is that which gives form to potential. More so, sublimity is the perseverance and pursuance of the manifestation of one’s (or a process’) most dignified/natural aspects. It is very in line with a sentiment that comes up often here — life is not about doing the right thing it’s about trying to do the right thing.