Mar 28 23
Five of Cups
21. Biting Through
10. Treading [Conduct]
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 “S.A.”: More often than not, at work and in friend-type situations, most people seem totally fake; but they are definitely making more gains than me. Whenever I say something honest, it falls flat. It must be said though, I have not totally lost faith in my abilities. Please help, thanks.
First, it is (of course) encouraging that you have “not totally lost faith” in your abilities. Buoyancy is absolutely necessary.
There is likely ambiguity or inaccuracy in your perception of other’s “gains” (or successes). Like, how are you measuring success? Short term? Long term? Isn’t success a long game? A process?
Metaphorically speaking, the image of the Five of Cups card is really strong and useful (see above). In front of a forlorn character are spilled cups. A little further on, a raging river — which seems to separate the character from a home or city. But... behind them, just out of view, there are still some unspilled cups, and even better, in the distance, a bridge(!) to cross the river. “All” is hardly lost — just a difference of perspective is needed.
When one is surrounded by people who are “intractable” and/or “fake,” develop decorum (that is, don’t emotionally improvise). And if a true obstacle arises here, like someone is lying about you, act swiftly, and with precision to remedy the situation; even if the action is not outwardly successful — inwardly you will respect yourself — which is really important long term.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Five of Cups. Here we have a card related to loss and possibly regret — but not without ambiguity. Is the loss actually complete? There is a feeling here similar to celebrating too soon, but in this case it would be mourning too soon and too exclusively. The card seems to be saying that the reason for the sadness you feel, is itself, incomplete; there are many, many ways out of this trouble (or feeling) if you’d only look.
Our first hexagram this week is #21, Biting Through. This hexagram is about the removal of an obstacle, mainly of the human kind. When a sincere impediment is hindering you or a group of people, the advice (of this hexagram) is plain: act swiftly, clearly, powerfully and with precision. The precision part is important: “…it is important to proceed in the right way… Unqualified hardness and excitement would be too violent in meting out punishment; unqualified clarity and gentleness would be too weak. The two together create the just measure.” There were two changes this week, of which the specific notes are: there is risk of overdoing a retaliation but when the opponent is truly devious it matters less.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #10, Treading (Conduct). “One is handling wild, intractable people. In such a case one’s purpose will be achieved if one behaves with decorum. Pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.” Total equality, whether of the self or a group, is not possible; the constituent parts or aspects (of the self or a group) are too vast in number — not to mention each is always completely different from unrelated angles. So what to do? When there is no useable external order, you must create it for yourself. Here it is called “decorum.” Consistent and “pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.”
- don’t be sad more than is necessary
- act with speed, strength and precision to successfully remove an obstacle
- when there is no useable external order, you must create it for yourself
- consistent and “pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people”
From “S.A.”: More often than not, at work and in friend-type situations, most people seem totally fake; but they are definitely making more gains than me. Whenever I say something honest, it falls flat. It must be said though, I have not totally lost faith in my abilities. Please help, thanks.
First, it is (of course) encouraging that you have “not totally lost faith” in your abilities. Buoyancy is absolutely necessary.
There is likely ambiguity or inaccuracy in your perception of other’s “gains” (or successes). Like, how are you measuring success? Short term? Long term? Isn’t success a long game? A process?
Metaphorically speaking, the image of the Five of Cups card is really strong and useful (see above). In front of a forlorn character are spilled cups. A little further on, a raging river — which seems to separate the character from a home or city. But... behind them, just out of view, there are still some unspilled cups, and even better, in the distance, a bridge(!) to cross the river. “All” is hardly lost — just a difference of perspective is needed.
When one is surrounded by people who are “intractable” and/or “fake,” develop decorum (that is, don’t emotionally improvise). And if a true obstacle arises here, like someone is lying about you, act swiftly, and with precision to remedy the situation; even if the action is not outwardly successful — inwardly you will respect yourself — which is really important long term.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Five of Cups. Here we have a card related to loss and possibly regret — but not without ambiguity. Is the loss actually complete? There is a feeling here similar to celebrating too soon, but in this case it would be mourning too soon and too exclusively. The card seems to be saying that the reason for the sadness you feel, is itself, incomplete; there are many, many ways out of this trouble (or feeling) if you’d only look.
Our first hexagram this week is #21, Biting Through. This hexagram is about the removal of an obstacle, mainly of the human kind. When a sincere impediment is hindering you or a group of people, the advice (of this hexagram) is plain: act swiftly, clearly, powerfully and with precision. The precision part is important: “…it is important to proceed in the right way… Unqualified hardness and excitement would be too violent in meting out punishment; unqualified clarity and gentleness would be too weak. The two together create the just measure.” There were two changes this week, of which the specific notes are: there is risk of overdoing a retaliation but when the opponent is truly devious it matters less.
Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes) is #10, Treading (Conduct). “One is handling wild, intractable people. In such a case one’s purpose will be achieved if one behaves with decorum. Pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.” Total equality, whether of the self or a group, is not possible; the constituent parts or aspects (of the self or a group) are too vast in number — not to mention each is always completely different from unrelated angles. So what to do? When there is no useable external order, you must create it for yourself. Here it is called “decorum.” Consistent and “pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.”