Oct 26 21
Queen of Cups (reversed)
7. The Army
4. Youthful Folly
Petite Reading
You can’t just boss yourself into feeling good or achieving a goal. You need to be organized about what you are trying to achieve and be patient. You also have to strive to connect with why your are trying to achieve anything in the first place. Bullying yourself into doing things is like closing your eyes, plugging your ears, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. Look directly at yourself, see where you hide and see where you are open and proud — make the loving harmony between your fear and your confidence the whole of your life’s work — as all good will stem from this.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Queen of Cups, reversed. The suit of cups deals with the emotions (intuition and feelings); queen “court cards” signify nurturing and nourishing. Together, as the Queen of Cups, they point to a deep emotional intelligence at play. When reversed, as it is here, it is a time to consider that something is amiss with one’s emotions, that the flow of one’s feelings are being blocked by some sort of arrested development.
Our first hexagram this week is #7, The Army. “Without strict discipline nothing can be accomplished, but this discipline must not be achieved by force. It requires… an awakening of enthusiasm.” To truly rally all of one’s forces together, all must be focused on what one actually loves. We too often pretend that we like something, and lose touch with our joy(s); all energies getting dispersed into tiring, petty battles. One should lead all of the parts of themself under the banner of that which is most important to them. There was one change in our hexagram of which the specific note is: when dealing with large enterprises, organization is imperative.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #4, Youthful Folly. This hexagram imparts serious wisdom regarding education (whether scholastic or experiential) we are always shocked when we reread it. Here it states that the correct ratio for teacher and pupil, is for the pupil always to seek the teacher (not the other way round): “the youth… must be conscious of their lack of experience and must seek out the teacher. Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that they will have the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher. This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering themself. Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way.” Education is being patient for a sincere question to meet a sincere answer. As Roland Barthes said, “People who understand quickly frighten me.”
You can’t just boss yourself into feeling good or achieving a goal. You need to be organized about what you are trying to achieve and be patient. You also have to strive to connect with why your are trying to achieve anything in the first place. Bullying yourself into doing things is like closing your eyes, plugging your ears, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. Look directly at yourself, see where you hide and see where you are open and proud — make the loving harmony between your fear and your confidence the whole of your life’s work — as all good will stem from this.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Queen of Cups, reversed. The suit of cups deals with the emotions (intuition and feelings); queen “court cards” signify nurturing and nourishing. Together, as the Queen of Cups, they point to a deep emotional intelligence at play. When reversed, as it is here, it is a time to consider that something is amiss with one’s emotions, that the flow of one’s feelings are being blocked by some sort of arrested development.
Our first hexagram this week is #7, The Army. “Without strict discipline nothing can be accomplished, but this discipline must not be achieved by force. It requires… an awakening of enthusiasm.” To truly rally all of one’s forces together, all must be focused on what one actually loves. We too often pretend that we like something, and lose touch with our joy(s); all energies getting dispersed into tiring, petty battles. One should lead all of the parts of themself under the banner of that which is most important to them. There was one change in our hexagram of which the specific note is: when dealing with large enterprises, organization is imperative.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #4, Youthful Folly. This hexagram imparts serious wisdom regarding education (whether scholastic or experiential) we are always shocked when we reread it. Here it states that the correct ratio for teacher and pupil, is for the pupil always to seek the teacher (not the other way round): “the youth… must be conscious of their lack of experience and must seek out the teacher. Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that they will have the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher. This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering themself. Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way.” Education is being patient for a sincere question to meet a sincere answer. As Roland Barthes said, “People who understand quickly frighten me.”