Mar 01 22
Six of Cups (reversed)
60. Limitation
61. Inner Truth
Since news has become near ubiquitous due to the rise of computational technologies, our psychologies are receiving a thorough beating from this rising digital journalistic torrent. This week we asked the oracle what is some advice here? Should we relent to the torque of the maelstrom, try to step completely out of it, laugh, cry, develop radical sangfroid or….?
First, we received a definition of news itself: news isn’t news if it is dominated by the past; of course being informed by the past is the nature of all present understanding — but watch out for sources that develop a predominantly past-preoccupied rhetoric. News without true sympathy, that is, the attempt to balance, inward culpability of self and outward pursuance of responsibility in the powerful, is propaganda.
Next came the behavioral recommendation: the current rate of news is excessive and without limits, without limitation there is no meaning. As well, excess and overproduction are unhealthy, period. It is imperative to create structure for yourself when it comes to news consumption. So it is up to both the consumer and the press to not destroy meaning by relenting to supply-side-journalism — by turning information into a situation of limitless overproduction and co-dependency.
This week we pulled the Six of Cups reversed. When upright the card points to a nostalgic atmosphere or tendency. When reversed (as it is here) there is an indication that the past is dominating the present. That is, a fear of losing control of the future by constantly measuring them against situations past, is dangerously weighing your present (and potential futures) down.
Our first hexagram this week is #60, Limitation. Here we have the exposition of the importance of setting limits: “human life… achieves significance through discrimination and the setting of limits. Therefore what concerns us here is the problem of clearly defining these discriminations, which are, so to speak, the backbone of morality. Unlimited possibilities are not suited to humans; if they existed, our lives would only dissolve into the boundless. To become strong, a human’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding themself with these limitations and by determining for themself what their duty is.” There was one change this week, of which the specific note is: remember limitation is not restriction, it is the desire to find the right measure in our behaviors.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #61, Inner Truth. The nature and proper use of “influence” is discussed here. “Where the community of interest ceases, the holding together ceases also… only when the bond is based on what is right, on steadfastness, will it remain so firm that it triumphs over everything.” What is “right” is not fixed but an exacted vigilance to attempt to get things right. As well, the influencer must have sympathy for those that are being reached out to; they can not be sealed off in superiority — outright, high-handed attempts at control will yield little.
First, we received a definition of news itself: news isn’t news if it is dominated by the past; of course being informed by the past is the nature of all present understanding — but watch out for sources that develop a predominantly past-preoccupied rhetoric. News without true sympathy, that is, the attempt to balance, inward culpability of self and outward pursuance of responsibility in the powerful, is propaganda.
Next came the behavioral recommendation: the current rate of news is excessive and without limits, without limitation there is no meaning. As well, excess and overproduction are unhealthy, period. It is imperative to create structure for yourself when it comes to news consumption. So it is up to both the consumer and the press to not destroy meaning by relenting to supply-side-journalism — by turning information into a situation of limitless overproduction and co-dependency.
This week we pulled the Six of Cups reversed. When upright the card points to a nostalgic atmosphere or tendency. When reversed (as it is here) there is an indication that the past is dominating the present. That is, a fear of losing control of the future by constantly measuring them against situations past, is dangerously weighing your present (and potential futures) down.
Our first hexagram this week is #60, Limitation. Here we have the exposition of the importance of setting limits: “human life… achieves significance through discrimination and the setting of limits. Therefore what concerns us here is the problem of clearly defining these discriminations, which are, so to speak, the backbone of morality. Unlimited possibilities are not suited to humans; if they existed, our lives would only dissolve into the boundless. To become strong, a human’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding themself with these limitations and by determining for themself what their duty is.” There was one change this week, of which the specific note is: remember limitation is not restriction, it is the desire to find the right measure in our behaviors.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #61, Inner Truth. The nature and proper use of “influence” is discussed here. “Where the community of interest ceases, the holding together ceases also… only when the bond is based on what is right, on steadfastness, will it remain so firm that it triumphs over everything.” What is “right” is not fixed but an exacted vigilance to attempt to get things right. As well, the influencer must have sympathy for those that are being reached out to; they can not be sealed off in superiority — outright, high-handed attempts at control will yield little.