Jun 17 25
King of Pentacles (reversed)
56. The Wanderer
50. The Cauldron
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.)
Question from “Q.T.”: The forces of primordial pain (childhood trauma/strife) shape subsequent patterns/methods of survival and coping — though the shapes often have useful refinements (powerful talents) — on the whole, these overdetermined coping strategies are inefficient for the very wide range (and novel) nature of (“adult”) life.
Some of us set up our whole lives to avoid scenarios we perceive as painfully related to traumas. Figuratively speaking, some of us will take multi-mile journeys trying to enter a situation from the side or back, even when the goal is only a few feet away — just to avoid those perceived few feet of hell.
But how to develop new, primarily improvisational, methods outside of the deeply beaten paths of personality? How to go from being a hurt daughter to being a loving, effective mother?
Oracle reply: YOU MUST JOIN IN! Growth requires being part of The Garden or The Forest (writ large) — that is, all things thrive by interconnection. It is not easy, at first, because when separate, values (morality) develop privately and hermetically, they become unrelatable, and/or self-referential, and/or narcissistic, and/or solipsistic — these qualities make one awkward with others and/or angry and/or defensive, and/or guarded, and/or withdrawn, and/or “strange”.
It is not to say that one should be carried along by the masses or populist ideas — rather, a special person, one who has experienced trauma and/or deep pain, must develop that pain in the open, otherwise it rots into control rather than springy participation.
Complete Reading:
This week we pulled the King of Pentacles (reversed). (Note: this is the second week in a row that this card has appeared in this aspect.) From last week: “Basic aptitudes are off. The governance of a balanced self (the accord of the body, the emotions, intuition, receptivity, the unconscious, the intellect, and communication) is insecure or fatigued. One must bring power back (to themself) by engaging (with the goal of mastering) the balanced self.”
Our first hexagram this week is #56, The Wanderer. “Life itself is an exile. The way home is not the way back.” This hexagram is all about keeping it light — particularly when one is (as we all are most of the time) a snail between shells. When you are searching don’t get caught up. Don’t strike up a relationship (with an idea, object or person) until you are sure it is appropriate. “When a person is a wanderer and stranger, they should not be gruff nor overbearing. They have no large circle of acquaintances, therefore they should not give themself airs. They must be cautious and reserved; in this way they protect themself from evil. If one is obliging toward others, they win success.” “Strange lands and separation are the wanderer’s lot... Therefore they must take care to remain upright and steadfast, so that they sojourn only in the proper places, associating only with good people. Then they have good fortune and can go on their way unmolested.”
There was one change this week of which the specific note is: when seeking and wandering one should be modest and reserved though never lose touch with one’s inner being — such behavior will encourage people to assist you.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #50, The Cauldron. A cauldron holds nourishment to feed a large group of people. The emphasis here, is not on the ingredients though, or the iron that constructs it, but of remoter causalities of sustenance — figuratively, the rain and sun. That is, the far, far off sun and the rain (fickle or persistent as they may be) are what truly make the cauldron’s nourishment possible. As well, the degree to which wood delivers a robust flame, depends upon the strength of the relation of the tree and its environment — the sun and rain being the foundational elements of this production. The I Ching states that this cumulative image represents the need for group spirituality, that is, society needs a unified reverence of the larger mystery and out of reach forces, for large scale nourishment to exist — isolated, cynical, individuality will only bring strife.
- The balancing of sincere, personally calibrated, values and morals is of utmost importance.
- “The way home is not the way back.”
- When an outsider, one must be modest and low key.
- Isolated, cynical, individuality will only bring strife — working to find your individual place in the larger group, brings nourishment.
- YOU MUST JOIN IN!
Question from “Q.T.”: The forces of primordial pain (childhood trauma/strife) shape subsequent patterns/methods of survival and coping — though the shapes often have useful refinements (powerful talents) — on the whole, these overdetermined coping strategies are inefficient for the very wide range (and novel) nature of (“adult”) life.
Some of us set up our whole lives to avoid scenarios we perceive as painfully related to traumas. Figuratively speaking, some of us will take multi-mile journeys trying to enter a situation from the side or back, even when the goal is only a few feet away — just to avoid those perceived few feet of hell.
But how to develop new, primarily improvisational, methods outside of the deeply beaten paths of personality? How to go from being a hurt daughter to being a loving, effective mother?
Oracle reply: YOU MUST JOIN IN! Growth requires being part of The Garden or The Forest (writ large) — that is, all things thrive by interconnection. It is not easy, at first, because when separate, values (morality) develop privately and hermetically, they become unrelatable, and/or self-referential, and/or narcissistic, and/or solipsistic — these qualities make one awkward with others and/or angry and/or defensive, and/or guarded, and/or withdrawn, and/or “strange”.
It is not to say that one should be carried along by the masses or populist ideas — rather, a special person, one who has experienced trauma and/or deep pain, must develop that pain in the open, otherwise it rots into control rather than springy participation.
Complete Reading:
This week we pulled the King of Pentacles (reversed). (Note: this is the second week in a row that this card has appeared in this aspect.) From last week: “Basic aptitudes are off. The governance of a balanced self (the accord of the body, the emotions, intuition, receptivity, the unconscious, the intellect, and communication) is insecure or fatigued. One must bring power back (to themself) by engaging (with the goal of mastering) the balanced self.”
Our first hexagram this week is #56, The Wanderer. “Life itself is an exile. The way home is not the way back.” This hexagram is all about keeping it light — particularly when one is (as we all are most of the time) a snail between shells. When you are searching don’t get caught up. Don’t strike up a relationship (with an idea, object or person) until you are sure it is appropriate. “When a person is a wanderer and stranger, they should not be gruff nor overbearing. They have no large circle of acquaintances, therefore they should not give themself airs. They must be cautious and reserved; in this way they protect themself from evil. If one is obliging toward others, they win success.” “Strange lands and separation are the wanderer’s lot... Therefore they must take care to remain upright and steadfast, so that they sojourn only in the proper places, associating only with good people. Then they have good fortune and can go on their way unmolested.”
There was one change this week of which the specific note is: when seeking and wandering one should be modest and reserved though never lose touch with one’s inner being — such behavior will encourage people to assist you.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #50, The Cauldron. A cauldron holds nourishment to feed a large group of people. The emphasis here, is not on the ingredients though, or the iron that constructs it, but of remoter causalities of sustenance — figuratively, the rain and sun. That is, the far, far off sun and the rain (fickle or persistent as they may be) are what truly make the cauldron’s nourishment possible. As well, the degree to which wood delivers a robust flame, depends upon the strength of the relation of the tree and its environment — the sun and rain being the foundational elements of this production. The I Ching states that this cumulative image represents the need for group spirituality, that is, society needs a unified reverence of the larger mystery and out of reach forces, for large scale nourishment to exist — isolated, cynical, individuality will only bring strife.