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Interpreting hexagrams

Comments on whole hexagrams, individual lines and so on

Traffic lights are trigrams

  Wouldn’t it be nice if I broke my excruciatingly long silence here with something in-depth and profoundly meaningful? Well… too bad… On a car journey today, I noticed –   Gen, the mountain, meaning a barrier, stilling, stopping.             Kan, chasms and flowing water,… Read more »Traffic lights are trigrams

Steps through Hexagram 46

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Hexagram 46

Here are some thoughts on the moving line texts of Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward. I’d like to have a good dive in here – drawing on the meaning of the line position, the relationship to the zhi gua (the hexagram each line changes to) and the line pathway, along with… Read more »Steps through Hexagram 46

Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward (step 3: some hexagrams of context)

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Hexagram 46

I call the hexagrams that are naturally related to the cast hexagram, regardless of its changing lines, ‘hexagrams of context’. They make an extended family of contrasts and sources. (Those simple old human ways of understanding something – seeing what it isn’t, and telling its stories – work just as… Read more »Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward (step 3: some hexagrams of context)

Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward (step 2 – trigrams)

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Hexagram 46

The trigrams of Hexagram 46 seem to embody its nature particularly clearly. Earth   contains wood   – a straightforward picture of a germinating seed. The Image says: ‘Centre of the earth gives birth to wood. Pushing upward. A noble one with patient character, Builds up small things to attain… Read more »Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward (step 2 – trigrams)

46: Pushing Upward (step 1)

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Hexagram 46

Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward, has to do with step-by-step progress onward and upward, and the effort of the climb. It also has to do with offerings: Harmen, in his fascinating article on the hexagram, says, “Sheng was the name of a certain sacrifice, and because of the close resemblance between the… Read more »46: Pushing Upward (step 1)