Nov 15 22
Death
19. Approach
60. Limitation
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.)
T.B. asks: I keep finding out that what I am doing has already been covered, by much greater artists, at a much earlier time. Should I keep hanging on or should I quit?
We are sure you’ve heard the adage: there is no good art about anything. Keeping that in mind, perhaps, you should first ask yourself if you believe art to be covering a topic, or whether you think art to be exploring a topic — also, walking in the tread of previous artists’ computations is often an involuntary and inevitable route to the destination of personal style. And relatedly, there is a conundrum regarding the intention to create something new: why would one want to create something new if they didn’t believe that it would be worthwhile beforehand. Besides, art doesn’t need to be new, it just needs to work — and how it works or what it does is very personal.
Another adage: inspiration catches one working. Before you runaway in disgust of triteness, please let us explain. We have oft been frustrated by that phrase, that is, until we asked an additional question, what does the “working” of inspiration catches one working look like. For us it’s all about going back to the beginning of a problem (in a VERY simple way) over and over and over and over and over… until… magically, something comes up — and something always comes up when you really, really, really, keep at it. Always.
The Death Card: Agnes Martin notoriously destroyed her earlier paintings and moved from New York to New Mexico; she was in her mid fifties. It wasn’t until this time that she found her mature style — and there was no guarantee that she was going to find it either; she just did it.
Complete Reading:
This week we pulled the Death card. The appearance of Death, in a reading, is a kind of call to maturity. That is, it is an opportunity to make a choice (accept change). A metaphor: a treasure map has drifted and come to rest, precariously, on an interior ledge of an abyss. You have made your way down a bit but are now kind of stuck — and still out of reach of the paper. The area on which you stand is giving way. Someone above throws you a rope. You could ask the person to let down more rope so you could reach the paper, but this is assuming (ridiculously) that all will work in your favor (the footing will hold, the map doesn’t blow further into the void, etc.). And jeez, it’s not even treasure it’s just a map…
Our first hexagram this week is #19, Approach. In horseback riding there is a concept: getting ahead of the horse. This means, if your horse consistently reacts negatively to some stimuli, change your approach — get ahead of the problem. This hexagram admonishes a similar notion. “If we meet evil before it becomes reality — before it has even begun to stir — we can master it.” As well, when a time (or approach) is favorable, one shouldn’t let their guard down — always plan ahead, to mitigate unavoidable misfortune and setbacks. There was one change this week, of which the specific notes are: organize yourself (or team) in a way that allows for parts to operate independently but with common purpose (this requires strength of character and strength of purpose).
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #60, Limitation. This hexagram frequently comes up in our readings, which is lovely as it is full of utility and profundity… Often our thoughts are aimed at freedom, but it may be wiser to consider limitation first. Humans possess the ability to see infinite combinations (or outcomes) but it is always specificity that we are confronted with. So we say exalt limitation and utilize the power of a boundary. “Unlimited possibilities are not suited to humans; if they existed, life would only dissolve into boundlessness. To become strong, a person’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted.” “But in limitation we must observe due measure. If a person should seek to impose galling limitations upon their own nature, it would be injurious. And if they should go too far in imposing limitations on others, the others will rebel. Therefore it is necessary to set limits even upon limitation.” (!!!)
- Fully accept some sort of major change — if you don’t, there will be rot or worse.
- Address known problems (expected pitfalls) before they arise.
- Understand, embrace and utilize limitations (boundaries); it is limitation (not freedom) that is the birth of all creation.
T.B. asks: I keep finding out that what I am doing has already been covered, by much greater artists, at a much earlier time. Should I keep hanging on or should I quit?
We are sure you’ve heard the adage: there is no good art about anything. Keeping that in mind, perhaps, you should first ask yourself if you believe art to be covering a topic, or whether you think art to be exploring a topic — also, walking in the tread of previous artists’ computations is often an involuntary and inevitable route to the destination of personal style. And relatedly, there is a conundrum regarding the intention to create something new: why would one want to create something new if they didn’t believe that it would be worthwhile beforehand. Besides, art doesn’t need to be new, it just needs to work — and how it works or what it does is very personal.
Another adage: inspiration catches one working. Before you runaway in disgust of triteness, please let us explain. We have oft been frustrated by that phrase, that is, until we asked an additional question, what does the “working” of inspiration catches one working look like. For us it’s all about going back to the beginning of a problem (in a VERY simple way) over and over and over and over and over… until… magically, something comes up — and something always comes up when you really, really, really, keep at it. Always.
The Death Card: Agnes Martin notoriously destroyed her earlier paintings and moved from New York to New Mexico; she was in her mid fifties. It wasn’t until this time that she found her mature style — and there was no guarantee that she was going to find it either; she just did it.
Complete Reading:
This week we pulled the Death card. The appearance of Death, in a reading, is a kind of call to maturity. That is, it is an opportunity to make a choice (accept change). A metaphor: a treasure map has drifted and come to rest, precariously, on an interior ledge of an abyss. You have made your way down a bit but are now kind of stuck — and still out of reach of the paper. The area on which you stand is giving way. Someone above throws you a rope. You could ask the person to let down more rope so you could reach the paper, but this is assuming (ridiculously) that all will work in your favor (the footing will hold, the map doesn’t blow further into the void, etc.). And jeez, it’s not even treasure it’s just a map…
Our first hexagram this week is #19, Approach. In horseback riding there is a concept: getting ahead of the horse. This means, if your horse consistently reacts negatively to some stimuli, change your approach — get ahead of the problem. This hexagram admonishes a similar notion. “If we meet evil before it becomes reality — before it has even begun to stir — we can master it.” As well, when a time (or approach) is favorable, one shouldn’t let their guard down — always plan ahead, to mitigate unavoidable misfortune and setbacks. There was one change this week, of which the specific notes are: organize yourself (or team) in a way that allows for parts to operate independently but with common purpose (this requires strength of character and strength of purpose).
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #60, Limitation. This hexagram frequently comes up in our readings, which is lovely as it is full of utility and profundity… Often our thoughts are aimed at freedom, but it may be wiser to consider limitation first. Humans possess the ability to see infinite combinations (or outcomes) but it is always specificity that we are confronted with. So we say exalt limitation and utilize the power of a boundary. “Unlimited possibilities are not suited to humans; if they existed, life would only dissolve into boundlessness. To become strong, a person’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted.” “But in limitation we must observe due measure. If a person should seek to impose galling limitations upon their own nature, it would be injurious. And if they should go too far in imposing limitations on others, the others will rebel. Therefore it is necessary to set limits even upon limitation.” (!!!)