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The Creative1
Pure potential. Creative energy. Initiate bold actions.
↓ Line 2
The time for action is approaching. Seek guidance from those with wisdom.
↓ Line 3
Continuous effort is required, but be cautious of overexertion. Balance is key.
↓ Innocence 25
Embrace spontaneity and authenticity, avoiding needless complexity or pretense. Honor simplicity and genuine intentions, allowing truth to guide your actions without ulterior motives.
Original Readings
1 The Creative
Other titles: The Creative, The Symbol of Heaven, The Creative Principle, Force, The Key, Creativity, The Originating, Creative Power, Primal Power, Yang, The Life Force, Kundalini, God the Father
Judgment
Legge:The Dynamic represents what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and firm.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Creative works sublime success, furthering through perseverance.
Blofeld: The Creative Principle . Sublime Success! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.
Liu:The Creative brings great success, benefiting all through perseverance.
Ritsema/Karcher:Force: Spring Growing Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the primal spirit power that both creates and destroys. It emphasizes that dynamic, unwearied persisting, the action of Force, is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: persist!]
Shaughnessy:The Key: Primary reception; beneficial to determine.
Cleary(1):Heavencreates, develops, brings about fruition and consummation.
Cleary(1): The creative is successful; this is beneficial if correct.
Wu:The Originator is primordial, pervasive, prosperous and persevering.
The Image
Legge: Heaven, in its motion, gives the idea of strength. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes the power of the celestial forces in motion, wherewith the Superior Man labors unceasingly to strengthen his own character.
Liu: Heaven moves powerfully; the superior man strengthens himself unceasingly.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven moves persistingly. A Chun tzu uses originating strength not to pause.
Cleary(1): The activity of heaven is powerful; superior people thereby strengthen themselves ceaselessly.
Wu: Heaven moves in full strength. Thus the jun zi strives ceaselessly to be self-reliant.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: All things owe their inception to the vast and originating power of The Dynamic. It contains all the meaning of the word: Heaven. Clouds move, rain falls, and the myriad things appear in their created forms. The sages comprehend the link between the end and the beginning. They understand how the changes of the six lines of the hexagram are accomplished, each in its season, and with this knowledge they ascend toward Heaven as though mounted on six dragons. The intent of The Dynamic is to transform everything so that it reflects its correct nature as originally conceived by the mind of Heaven. Thereafter, this great harmony is preserved in union and firm correctness. The sage appears aloft, high above all things, and the myriad states are harmoniously united.
Legge: For the Chinese, the dragon has been from the earliest times a symbol of dignity, wisdom, sovereignty and sagehood. It is the symbol of the superior man, and especially the "great man," exhibiting all the virtues and attributes of Heaven. Although the dragon's home is in the water, it can disport itself on land, and also fly through the air.
The sage rules in the world of men as Heaven rules nature. He sees the connection between the end and the beginning as the law of cause and effect in the operations of nature and human affairs. The various steps in that course are symbolized by the lines of the hexagram, and the ideal sage, conducting his ideal government, is represented as driving through the sky in a carriage drawn by six dragons.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:The Dynamic is the life force itself.
The Superior Man tirelessly furthers the Great Work of Transformation.
The image of a dragon appears in every line of this hexagram, except the third. Like most symbols, the dragon has both a positive and a negative aspect. In Western myth, it is usually an adversary which the hero must conquer before he can obtain a treasure or often, a captive maiden. The Chinese, on the other hand, regard the dragon positively. Blofeld comments:
In China, the dragon has always been regarded as a highly admirable creature of celestial origin. Dragons provide rain; make rivers run and rule the ocean. The European dragon is clearly of another species.
This seeming anomaly may say more about how east and west perceive the forces of nature, rather than refer to any true differences in the forces perceived.
Wilhelm compares the dragon to the electrical energy within a thunderstorm -- as lightning it can destroy us, but in the form of electricity it can be harnessed to do useful work. A dragon is nothing if not a huge serpent, and this suggests the idea of the "serpent power," or Kundalini energy which when aroused in the human body has been likened to a sudden jolt of electricity running up from the base of the spine to the top of the head. The Kundalini force is equated in turn with sexual energy -- dynamic power which ensures the continuance of all but the most primitive of living organisms. Without the powerful energy of sexuality, life as we know it could not exist.
When the dragon remains unconquered in the cave-like depths of the unconscious, the life force autonomously rules our lives and we become passive vehicles for random desires and appetites. This "electricity" will flow wherever it finds a circuit of least resistance, and under these conditions an individual's life is largely "created" by chance and circumstance. When one begins the Work, the task of Individuation, one assumes the role of the hero or warrior, who does battle with the dragon in order to bring it under his will. This is a great struggle, and success is not guaranteed, but if one is able to control the primordial power of the life force, the treasure (or the maiden, which in the male psyche amounts to the same thing), is obtained. This is tantamount to attaining a higher level of consciousness -- in its highest form it constitutes "enlightenment."
The symbolism of all of the hexagrams works on many different levels, and this is especially true of the first two, which must be studied together for a full comprehension of each. (Kabbalists, for example, will recognize in these two figures the same forces found in Chokmah and Binah on the Tree of Life.) For the purposes of this comparison it must be noted that the first hexagram symbolizes Heaven, and the second symbolizes Earth: Force and Form. (As consciousness is to the body it inhabits, so Force is to Form and Heaven to Earth.) Form is magnetic, or "negative" in polarity, and Force is dynamic, or "positive."
In esoteric symbolism "Heaven" does not mean the universe above us -- it means the consciousness within us. This polarity is also reflected in the relationship between the ego and the Self -- in a properly regulated psyche, the ego is always magnetic to the dynamic Self.
There is an invisible universe within the visible one, a world of causes within the world of effects. There is force within matter, and the two are one, and are dependent for their existence on a third, which is the mysterious cause of their existence. There is a world of soul within a world of matter, and the two are one, and caused by the world of spirit. F. Hartmann -- Paracelsus: Life and Prophecies
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
To get a fuller grasp of the numinously beautiful structure of the I Ching and the transcendent reality which it reflects, one should meditate on each of the hexagrams as often as possible -- one can never exhaust their meaning. The first two hexagrams (because they are the "cosmic parents" of all the others), are especially rich in their associations. Here are a few suggestions for meditation:
1. Compare and contrast the general ideas in the first three hexagrams, noting how the third is a logical progression of the first two.
2. The Confucian commentary on The Dynamic is particularly rich in meaning. Read it over and over again -- it contains the principles of the Work as outlined in more detail in the other hexagrams. Compare the sixth sentence with the ideas in hexagram number twenty, Contemplation.
3. Compare the first two hexagrams with hexagram number eleven, Harmony, and number twelve, Divorcement, noting the implications of the symbolism in terms of the proper management of the Work.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows the dragon appearing in the field. It will be advantageous to meet with the great man.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Dragon appearing in the field. It furthers one to see the great man.
Blofeld: The dragon is perceived in an open place; it is advantageous to visit a great man.
Liu: The dragon is seen on the field. There is benefit in meeting a great man.
Ritsema/Karcher: Visualizing dragon located-in the fields. Harvesting: visualizing great people.
Shaughnessy: Appearing dragon in the fields; beneficial to see the great man.
Cleary(1): Seeing the dragon in the field: It is beneficial to see a great person.
Wu: There appears the dragon in the field. It will be advantageous to see the great man.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The diffusion of virtuous influence has been wide. Wilhelm/Baynes: Already the influence of character reaches far. Blofeld: The great man's deeds are everywhere distributed. Ritsema/Karcher: Actualizing-tao spreading-out throughout indeed. [Actualize-tao: ...ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos... Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]Wu: Because his virtue is being widely recognized.
The Master said:"There he is, with the qualities of the dragon, and occupying exactly the central place. His everyday speech and conduct is natural and without affectation. He is on guard against depravity, and thereby preserves his inner virtue. The world recognizes his power because he does not call attention to it. Such expressions of integrity are the qualities of a ruler, and transform the world."
Miscellaneous notes: The time still requires him to be unemployed. All under Heaven begins to be adorned and brightened. The correct accumulation of power creates beneficial results. The superior man consolidates his perceptions and evaluates their implications with bemused detachment, as befits a virtuous ruler.
Legge: We have the superior man developing, by means of the processes described, into the great man, with the attributes of a ruler, the appearance of whom is a blessing to men.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: A transformation ensues. The man appears among his peers, although not yet in a position of authority. His virtues are displayed, and his goodness becomes known. The prognosis is good for his impact upon the world. It is propitious to see him.
Wing: Take note of a person who is active in the field of your interest. Although he may not be in a position of Creative Power, his conduct is above reproach and therefore he has significant influence. It would be to your advantage to align yourself with him.
Editor: A field is a wide and open place where movement is relatively unrestricted. The dynamic force here has room to move in any direction. To ensure that this energy moves in the proper direction, we are counseled to maintain a firm connection with "the great man" -- the best that is in us, our highest intuition or inner voice: the Self. The imagery of the line therefore suggests the expansion of awareness, or of coming into one's power. It does not necessarily counsel action.
We should watch the activity of the Self within ourselves and try to make it an influence in our actual life. If for instance I have a dream that I should do something (since our hypothesis is that the dream is so to speak a letter from the Self), that would be an activity from the archetype of the Self, and to give that to the dragon to eat would mean that I make it valid for the body of my actual physical life, i.e., my decision, whether I do this or that, from morning to evening. M.L. Von Franz -- Alchemical Active Imagination
A. You are beginning to get the idea -- stay connected to avoid going astray.
B. Power accumulates -- stay in touch with your highest potential to ensure that this energy stays focused on the Work.
Line 3
Legge: In the third line, dynamic, we see its subject as the superior man active and vigilant all the day, and in the evening still careful and apprehensive. The position is dangerous, but there will be no mistake.
Wilhelm/Baynes: All day long the superior man is creatively active. At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares. Danger. No blame.
Blofeld: The superior man busies himself the whole day through and evening finds him thoroughly alert. Trouble threatens, but he is not at fault.
Liu: The superior man works creatively the whole day, and is cautious in the evening. Danger. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: A Chun tzu completing the day: Force, Force. Nightfall, awe, like adversity. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The gentleman throughout the day is so initiating; at night he is ashen as if in danger; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): A superior person works diligently all day, is careful at night. Danger, but no error.
Wu: The jun zi should follow the way of The Dynamic all day long. He should keep himself alert in the day as well as in the evening. If so, he will be free from error, despite alarming situations.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This refers to the treading of the proper path over and over again. Wilhelm/Baynes: One goes to and fro on the right path. Blofeld: He goes over his work again and again. Ritsema/Karcher: Reversing returning tao indeed. Wu: Take into consideration the principle of cyclic reversion.
The Master said:"The superior man evolves through faithful devotion to his work; and he ensures its endurance by the awareness and control of his speech. His comprehension of fundamental principles enables him to attain his goals, but once attained, he does not exceed their proper limit. Exalted without pride, abased without fear, vigilant in his actions and attentive to the requirements of the time, he copes with danger without error."
Miscellaneous notes: Now he does his proper business. He acts according
to the requirements of the time. He is doubly strong, but beyond the center -- neither in Heaven above, or the field below. Vigilance and concern in a perilous position insure against error.
Legge: The dynamic line is in its proper place. In the exercise of his caution he will refrain from any improper action.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man's fame begins to spread. Such periods of transition are always unsettling. There is tension in the air. But the man retains his integrity and avoids being swept along by the masses, which flock to him. He remains active, vigilant, careful, and apprehensive. The prevention of mistakes under perilous circumstances is ever on his mind.
Wing: A new world of Creative Power is opening to you. Others will become aware of this and attach themselves to you in hopes that they may use your gain in influence for their own aims. There is danger in this, for your energies may become distracted before they are stabilized. If you hold fiercely to your vision and integrity you will be protected.
Editor: This line marks the threshold between the lower and upper trigrams, and suggests a place of transition -- a kind of no-man's land where forces advance and retreat as conditions require. The superior man is the warrior in the service of the Work, and although he is consciously aware of his task (he is vigilant during the day), he must remain alert to unconscious (night, or evening) factors which might usurp his judgment. This is alluded to in the Confucian commentary in terms of the awareness and control of speech. The control of language is extremely difficult, for it is by means of spontaneous remarks that unconscious forces often manage to express themselves despite all of our intentions to the contrary. It is for this reason that a common discipline of inner work is the strict control of expression -- for example, the vow not to use the word "I" in conversation. (Aleister Crowley is said to have demanded that his disciples slash their arms with a razor every time they broke this rule!) Ritsema/Karcher render "adversity," (LI) as: "Danger, threatening, malevolent demon ... It indicates a spirit or ghost that seeks revenge by inflicting suffering upon the living. Pacifying or exorcizing such a spirit can have a healing effect." If this is the only changing line, the new hexagram created is number ten, Cautious Advance, which repeats the image of careful vigilance as well as the idea in the Confucian commentary of "Treading the proper path over and over again." Compare with line 3 of Hexagram 10.
The psyche is a self-regulating system that maintains its equilibrium just as the body does. Every process that goes too far immediately and inevitably calls forth compensations, and without these there would be neither a normal metabolism nor a normal psyche. In this sense we can take the theory of compensation as a basic law of psychic behavior. Too little on one side results in too much on the other.
Jung -- The Practice of Psychotherapy
A. Although you are consciously devoted to the Work, you must watch out for unconscious elements in your psyche which would hinder your progress.
B. Monitor your words and deeds.
C. Be very careful now in what you do.
25 Innocence
Other titles: The Unexpected, The Unintentional, The Symbol of Freedom from Error, Integrity, Without Embroiling, Pestilence, Fidelity, No Error, Freedom from Vainness, Instinctive Goodness, The Simple, Correctness, Subconscious, "Whatever happens, keep calm and do what is right." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Innocenceindicates progress and success through firm correctness. If the action of its subject is incorrect, he will fall into error. In such a case it will not be advantageous to move in any direction.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Innocence. Supreme success. Perseverance furthers. If someone is not as he should be, he has misfortune, and it does not further him to undertake anything.
Blofeld: Integrity. (The Unexpected). [this hexagram has two widely different meanings, both of which occur in what follows.] Sublime success! Righteous persistence brings reward. Those opposed to righteousness meet with injury. It is not favorable to have in view any goal (or destination). [Usually this sentence may be taken to have a wide application; but, in this case, (the Confucian commentary) suggests that it applies only to the enemies of righteousness, though it does have a general application for those who receive a moving line for the sixth place.]
Liu: The Unexpected: sublime success. Benefit. Perseverance. Someone acts incorrectly: misfortune. No benefit for undertakings.
Ritsema/Karcher: Without embroiling. Spring Growing Harvesting Trial. One in-no-way correcting: possessing blunder. Not Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation as being without confusion or fault. It emphasizes that acting while remaining free from entangling, vanity or recklessness is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told: act without becoming embroiled!]
Shaughnessy: Pestilence: Prime receipt; beneficial to determine. If it is not upright there will be an inspection; not beneficial to have somewhere to go.
Cleary (1):Fidelity is creative and developmental. It is beneficial to be correct; if it is not correct, there will be disaster, and it will not be beneficial to go anywhere.
Cleary (2):Freedom from error is very successful, beneficial for the upright. Denial of what is correct is mistaken, etc.
Wu:Freedom from Vainness is primordial, pervasive, prosperous and persevering. If it does not stay in the correct course, there will be calamities and there will be no advantage to have any undertaking.
The Image
Legge: Thunder rolls under heaven, and everything manifests its original nature, free from all insincerity. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, made their regulations in complete accordance with the seasons, thereby nourishing all things.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Under heaven thunder rolls: all things attain the natural state of innocence. Thus the kings of old, rich in virtue, and in harmony with the time, fostered and nourished all beings.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder rolling across the whole earth; from it, all things receive their integrity. [The lower trigram is pictured as thunder, but it acts through its power to quicken growth.] The ancient rulers gave abundant and timely nourishment to all.
Liu: Thunder rolls under heaven; everything is innocent. The ancient kings cultivated virtue and used the appropriate time to nourish all beings.
Without embroiling. The Earlier Kings used luxuriance suiting the season to nurture the myriad beings.
Cleary (2): Thunder travels under the sky; things accompany with no error. Ancient kings promoted flourishing appropriate to the time and nurtured myriad beings.
Wu: Thunder moves under heaven. All things participate in the spirit of Freedom from Vainness. The ancient kings acted in time to cause all people and things to flourish.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Innocence shows the dynamic first line descending from the upper trigram to become the lord of the hexagram in the lower trigram. We see the attributes of Motive Power and Strength. The dynamic fifth line is central and responded to by the magnetic second line. It is the will of heaven that true progress can only proceed from correctness. If the action of the subject is incorrect he will fall into error, and it will be unfortunate for him to move in any direction. Where can one with the illusion of innocence proceed? Can anything be accomplished by someone without the assistance of heaven's will?
Legge: Of the two Chinese characters which symbolize Innocence, one is the symbol of being reckless, and often of being insincere; these two characters in combination describe a state of entire freedom from such a condition. The subject of the hexagram therefore, is one who is simple and sincere. This quality is characteristic of heaven, and of the highest style of humanity. The figure is an essay on this noble attribute. But an absolute rectitude is essential to it. The nearer one comes to the ideal of the quality, the more powerful will be his influence and the greater his success. But let him see to it that he never swerve from being correct.
Anthony: Innocence means to let go of the present, thereby letting the future become what it will and being at peace with it… When we have learned to do a thing for its own sake, we know the meaning of innocence… In keeping our minds open and free, we are able to meet unexpected events with the help of the Creative, which always points out the correct and most appropriate response.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Success is possible only if you are impeccably correct. If such is not the case, take no action at all. ("Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.")
The Superior Man acts in harmony with the times.
The ancient kings in the Image are mentioned by name in seven hexagrams. (See the commentary on hexagram number 20, Contemplation, for a fuller discussion of their symbolism.) Here, the Image shows them synchronizing their laws with the "laws of nature" -- an archetypal concept which is found in many mystical traditions. Here is the alchemical version:
The individual terrestrial life should correspond to the laws governing the universe; man's spiritual aspirations should be directed to harmonize with the wisdom of God. If we accomplish this, the inner consciousness will awaken to an understanding of the influences of the stars, and the mysteries of Nature will be revealed to his spiritual perception. Paracelsus
In terms of the hexagram of Innocence, the idea is that if you are truly synchronized with your inner cosmos, if you are truly "innocent" (i.e., perfect), you may succeed under the prevailing conditions, but if you are not in complete inner accord you would be well advised to sit tight and take no action. To paraphrase the last sentence of the Confucian commentary: "Can the ego do anything advantageously without the concurrence of the Self?"
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5: 48
To use the Christian injunction in illustration: the upper trigram of Heaven is perfect, and the lower trigram of Movement is asked to reflect on how far he conforms to this ideal. In psychological terms, how do the goals of the ego compare with those of the Self, the entity to whom the Work is dedicated?
Wilhelm has some interesting commentary on this hexagram, stating that it can indicate unexpected misfortune. In his book,Lectures on the I Ching, he comments:
Wu Wang is very peculiar, and its name is not easy to translate. I have used "Innocence," or the “Unintentional." Having meanwhile thought about the matter more, I would today render Wu Wang with the term “Subconscious," even though this expression seems somewhat too modern ... That which as [Divorcement] severs life enters here into unconscious realms ... Because the shock is within and is unconscious, it cannot take its course, and therefore causes the unexpected to happen. An unexpected disaster is afoot; something may be robbed or stolen.
See line three and its commentaries for further insights into Wilhelm's ideas here.
To receive this hexagram without changing lines is tantamount to being asked if you are perfect enough to take action without harm. Sometimes, depending on circumstances, it can also suggest that your position is correct and blameless. As always, the context of your query will leave no doubt when this latter interpretation is intended. If there is doubt, rephrase the question and ask until you understand. The oracle uses ambiguity to develop your intuition -- especially so on those occasions when all you want is a quick answer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare what is said here about the Ancient Kings with what is said about them in hexagrams 8, 16, 20, 21, 24, and 59. What common theme unites them, and how does it relate to the concept of the Work?