Comments on: White thatchgrass

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:31:47 +0000

Hi Ed,

Thank you for connecting! I haven’t ‘tweeted’ for months now, but it just goes to show that nothing fails to bear fruit

By: Ed Hacker

Ed Hacker — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:32:19 +0000

Dear Hilary,

Today I became one of your followers on Twitter. I’m a bit new to Twittering, but already, through it, I have discovered your Blog.

I have been away from the I Ching for a couple of years, but I have never lost interest in it.

One of my co-authors lives in London, Steve Moore, you might have heard of him. He was very active in I Ching circles in England and Europe.

Regards,
Ed Hacker
May all your lines read good fortune.

By: David

David — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:36:08 +0000

Dear Hillary,
I recieved 28 (unchanging) several times before I set off on the pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela recently.
“Great Transition”! The Hexagram also speaks of a willow branch which, when planted can put down roots and sprout leaves. I used a pole for walking. In another sense the ridgepole saging was also warning me about the weight of my backpack. I made the Transition and continue to hope for the aid of the spirits in my consultations with the Book of Changes.
regards and thanks for the site which I’ve just discovered
David

By: jRuthKelly

jRuthKelly — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:01:51 +0000

This post is a warm blanket of comfort for me. So glad you shared about the thatchgrass. I find it applies to a relationship I was in for 6 years, one I knew would cave in on me and one that provoked so much more than it could actually sustain. The context, the timing and the chemistry made it a cauldron surreal. But what it did for me, the weaving of precious self-esteem and awareness of the layers I need to tend to in my soul, that was the thatchgrass, the absolutely vital work. And yes, the roof caved in. And I mourned. But since the thatchgrass was in my soul, in that place of eternal value, I have no regrets. I lost the relationship (as I knew I would) but I did not lose what I had so stubbornly focused on all along. It was, as it turns out, the gold of the relationship. I often felt like one almost a bit crazy to be working so feverishy on my "thatchgrass" when it all seemed so "pointless" but it was a work of emancipation, of strengthening. This post gels that for me. Beautiful...! jRuthKelly’s last blog post..Try, Try Again . . .

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:02:12 +0000

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the comment!

The part about the wrapped offering and crossing the threshold comes from hexagram 28, whose name has to do with crossing between realms.

The rest comes partly from a dictionary entry for the name of Hexagram 43, which reads,

“The oracle-bone character seems to show two hands holding a large U shape. Such a penannular jade ring was called a ? jué. In ancient times the jué symbolized authority, or cutting off a relationship. …The name of the hexagram ? guài is just a slight variation of jué.”

…blended with what I learn from LiSe Heyboer about this one, partly from the traditional translation ‘decision’, and partly from the scene in 43′s oracle text, of the message brought to the king’s court.

By: Michael R.

Michael R. — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:40:49 +0000

Dear Hilary,
thanks for your inspiring remarks about Hexagram 28 and 43. Your last two sentences
“a jade token of parting from the old, a message brought, a decision in process. Wrapping this up as an offering is a way to ensure that these human actions ‘cross the threshold’ and connect with the spirits” left me wondering if this is your own interpretation or something one can find in the text to Hexagramm 43.
How did you come to this conclusion?
Michael