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Fellowship13
Unity through shared purpose and community effort.
↓ Line 2
Restricting fellowship to one's own group can lead to misunderstandings and humiliation.
↓ Line 4
One is in a strong position but should refrain from aggressive actions. This restraint leads to good fortune.
↓ Line 5
True fellowship may face initial difficulties, but perseverance leads to joy and success.
↓ Line 6
Fellowship with those who are different or distant can be achieved without regret, leading to harmony.
↓ Peace11
Harmony and prosperity arise when opposites attract and balance is maintained. Positive energies are in alignment, and collaborative efforts lead to growth and advancement. Embrace peace and cooperation for continued success.
Original Readings
13 Fellowship
Other titles: Fellowship with Men, The Symbol of Companionship, Lovers, Beloved Friends, Like-minded persons, Concording People, Gathering Men, Sameness with People, Universal Brotherhood, Fellowship, Community, United, Human Association, Union of Men, Integration of Forces, Minor Synthesis, Cliques, Concordance, To Be In Accord With, Confirmation
Judgment
Legge: Union of Forces appears in the remote districts of the country, indicating progress and success. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to maintain the firm correctness of the superior man.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Fellowship with Men in the open. Success. It furthers one to cross the great water. The perseverance of the superior man furthers.
Blofeld:Lovers (friends) in the open -- success! It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [To make any kind of journey.] The Superior Man will benefit if he does not slacken his righteous persistence.
Liu: Fellowship of men in the open (countryside). Success. It benefits one to cross the great water. It benefits the superior man to continue his task.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People , tending-towards the countryside. Growing. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting: chun tzu, Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of sharing a goal with others. It emphasizes that finding ways to cooperate with and harmonize people's efforts is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Gathering men in the wilds; receipt; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial for the gentleman to determine.
Cleary (1):Sameness with people in the wilderness is developmental. It is beneficial to cross great rivers. It is beneficial for a superior person to be upright.
Cleary (1): … Beneficial for a leader to be correct.
Wu: Fellowship in the open is pervasive, etc. … It will be advantageous to the jun zi who perseveres.
The Image
Legge: The images of heaven and fire form Union of Forces. The superior man, in accordance with this, distinguishes things according to their kinds and classes.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven together with fire: the image of Fellowship with Men. Thus the superior man organizes the clans and makes distinctions between things.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes heaven (the sun) and fire representing a pair of lovers. The Superior Man treats everything in a manner proper to his kind. [an analogy (based on the component trigrams) between the sun and fire, which to some extent are of a kind.]
Liu: Fire goes up to heaven, symbolizing Fellowship with Men. The superior man organizes his kinship group (party), and sorts them out.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven associating-with fire. Concording People. A chun tzu uses sorting the clans to mark-off the beings.
Cleary (1): Heaven with fire, sameness with others; superior people distinguish things in terms of categories and groups.
Cleary (2): … Leaders distinguish beings in terms of classes and families.
Wu: Heaven above and fire below form Fellowship. The jun zi distinguishes things by their kinds.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Union of Forces the magnetic line has the central place of influence and responds to her correlate line in the upper trigram of Strength. The hexagram takes its name from the upper trigram of Strength lending its power to the lower trigram of Clarity and Intelligence. This represents the correct course of the superior man. It is only the superior man who can comprehend and affect the minds of all under the sky.
Legge: Union of Forces describes a condition which is the opposite of the preceding hexagram of Divorcement. What was there distress and obstruction is here a union of forces. But it must be based entirely on the good of the whole, without any taint of selfishness.
The dynamic line correctly in the fifth place occupies the most important position, and has for his correlate the magnetic second line, also in her correct place. The one female line is naturally sought after by all the male lines. The editors of the K'ang-hsi edition would make the second line respond to all of the lines of the upper trigram, as being more agreeable to the idea of union.
The upper trigram is that of Heaven, the lower is of Fire, whose tendency is to mount upwards. This image suggests the fire ascending, blazing to the sky and uniting with it. All these ideas are in harmony with the notion of union, but it must be free of all factionalism, and this is indicated by its being in the remote districts of the country, where people are unsophisticated and free from the corrupting effects of urban intrigue. Although a union from such motives can cope with the greatest difficulties, yet a word of caution is added.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Connections are being made. If you are able to maintain your will, it is advisable to push for a synthesis .
The Superior Man differentiates and prioritizes; he sorts and evaluates his options.
This is another image of union -- not the supreme union of hexagram number eleven, Harmony, but a subordinate union of forces within the psyche which builds toward an eventual grand alliance. The component trigrams show the union of Strength and Clarity, suggesting that a certain level of mental comprehension is involved. To receive the hexagram without changing lines is often a confirmation of your particular thought -- saying, in effect: "You've made the connection."
Comprehension (synthesis) involves making distinctions (analysis) -- a paradoxical process in which one must divide before one can (re)unite. (This is the solve et coagula of alchemy.) Thus we see the superior man in the Image creating categories to bring about union -- this is discrimination directed toward reclassification or rectification. For example, a heterogeneous mixture of vegetable and flower seeds is made meaningful when one sorts them into their separate categories. The disparate elements then become coherently "united" -- in I Chingterms, each line obtains its proper correlate as in Hexagram number 63.
(Dialectic) alternates between synthesis and analysis until it has gone through the entire domain of the intelligible and has arrived at the principle. Stopping there, for it is only there that it can stop, no longer busying itself with a multitude of objects since it has arrived at unity, it contemplates. Plotinus -- The Enneads
The Chinese name of this hexagram includes the word Jen, which is apparently a difficult concept, since many philosophers have spent a good deal of energy in trying to define it:
Jen has been variously translated as benevolence, perfect virtue, goodness, human-heartedness, love, altruism, etc. None of these expresses all the meanings of the term. It means a particular virtue, benevolence, and also the general virtue, the basis of all goodness. ...Neo-Confucianists interpreted it as impartiality, the character of production and reproduction, consciousness, seeds that generate, the will to grow, one who forms one body with Heaven and Earth, or "the character of love and the principle of mind." In modern times, it has even been equated with ether and electricity... Wing-Tsit Chan -- A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Chu Hsi defines Jen as the "character of the mind" (psyche) and "the principle of love" (union). Interpreted in this way we are enabled to apprehend the essence of the word "love," which is union -- becoming one with its object. I have chosen the title of Union of Forces to emphasize intra-psychic dynamics which are not immediately obvious in Wilhelm's title of Fellowship with Men. For example in dealing with questions pertaining to the Work, the concept of "ego states" or "subpersonalities" is often relevant to the symbolism of this hexagram:
The human self has been described here as composed of different ego states separated by boundaries. It has been likened to the structure of political principalities. From clinical observation we find that ego states can cooperate for mutual well-being, like allied nations against a common enemy. An ego state may become split, like East and West Germany, or fracture into many segments, like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ego states may become cognitively dissonant and hostile to each other, like Syria and Israel. In fact, the behavior of ego states within an individual is not unlike that between individuals, and between those groups of individuals called countries. Why should the behavior of human "stuff" not be substantially similar at all levels of its organizations? ...The evidence of self division into ego states is significant, and an equally tenable hypothesis might be that the states and boundaries of political entities have been imposed by men on each other because these represent an externalization of the internal divisions in their own selves. J.G. Watkins -- The Therapeutic Self
This hexagram's "shadow side" reveals circumstances preventing the union of entities or forces, more than those conditions promoting fruitful affiliation. Note that only the first and fifth lines of the figure depict a positive synthesis; the first one is minor, and in the case of line 5, union is attained only after much struggle. Line 2 reveals a clique or faction situation opposed to the general welfare, and lines 3 and 4 are images of recalcitrant forces unable to either join or attack the alliance. The sixth line depicts a partial union (probably the most common outcome in general experience), which the Confucian commentary nevertheless minimizes. Out of six lines then, only two describe anything like complete fellowship. I have received this hexagram without changing lines when the context of the question revealed an “incestuous,” clique-type situation, so not all "fellowship" or Union of Forcesis necessarily an ideal configuration.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces in relation with her kindred. There will be occasion for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fellowship with men in the clan. Humiliation.
Blofeld: His beloved (betrothed) is of the same clan as himself -- trouble!
Liu: Fellowship of men in the kinship group (party). Humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People tending-towards ancestry.
Abashment.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men at the ancestral temple; distress.
Cleary (1): Sameness with people in the clan is regrettable.
Wu: Fellowship becomes kinship. There will be humiliation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Relationship with one's kindred is the path to regret. Wilhelm/Baynes: The way to humiliation. Blofeld: Choosing a beloved from a man's own clan is a sure way to unhappiness. [This Chinese belief was so strongly held that, until recently, even unrelated people of the same surname could not marry.]Ritsema/Karcher: Abashment tao indeed. Cleary (2): The road to regret. Wu: This is a way to humiliation.
Legge: Lines two and five are proper correlates, a fact which in this instance suggests the idea of a partial and limited union. This is blameworthy because union with only one's kindred implies narrowness of mind.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Because of special privileges and factions, only a limited fellowship is realized. Regrets and problems result.
Wing: There is a tendency toward elitism and exclusivity. This creates limitations for everyone in society. Such a situation of egotism and selfish interests will bring regret.
Editor: The image is one of incestuous exclusivity. The formation of factions, special interest groups and cliques can only cause harm to the larger psyche or to society because it excludes the vital give and take necessary for evolution and eventual synthesis. Sometimes the line can suggest the idea of being caught in a closed loop or vicious circle -- energy is trapped by limiting beliefs, thus preventing growth into new realms of being.
When a soul remains for long in this withdrawal and estrangement from the whole, with never a glance towards the intelligible, it becomes a thing fragmented, isolated, and weak. Activity lacks concentration. Attention is tied to particulars. Severed from the whole, the soul clings to the part; to this one sole thing, buffeted about by a whole world of things, has it turned and given itself. Adrift now from the whole, it manages even this particular thing with difficulty... Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. A self-serving alliance portends failure.
B. A recalcitrant complex refuses to integrate.
C. Dogmatic, hidebound perception prevents growth.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject mounted on the city wall; but he does not proceed to make the attack he contemplates. There will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack. Good fortune.
Blofeld: He climbs his battlemented wall, for he is unable to attack -- good fortune! [At first sight this case looks rather like that indicated by the third line, but here cowardice and concealment are replaced by courage modified by common sense and a desire to do his duty as best he can.]
Liu: They climb on the wall. They are unable to attack. Good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Riding astride its wall; you will not succeed in attacking it; auspicious.
Cleary (2): He mounts the wall but does not succeed in the attack. This is lucky.
Wu: He ascends to the top of his fortress, and is convinced that the offensive will fail. This will be auspicious. [He ascends to a good vantage point to survey his surroundings and realizes his blunder. He is quick to correct himself. Reasoning wins over force.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is mounted on the city wall, but he yields to the right and doesn't make the attack he contemplated. He recognizes the strait he is in, and will return to the rule of law. Wilhelm/Baynes: The situation means that he can do nothing. His good fortune consists in the fact that he gets into trouble and therefore returns to lawful ways. Blofeld: Being unable to worst the enemy, he settles down on a fortified wall. His good fortune consists in being able to retain his sense of what is right even when encountering difficulty. Ritsema/Karcher: Righteously nothing controlling indeed. One's significance. By-consequence confining and-also reversing by-consequence indeed. Cleary (2): The luck is that he will return to order when he reaches the impasse. Wu: Morally he cannot succeed . He realizes his predicament and reverses his course.
Legge: Line four is dynamic, but in a magnetic place, which weakens his position. He would like to make an attempt on line two, but is afraid to do so. Stress should be laid on the idea of "yielding to the right."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man mounts his city wall, but is afraid to embark on aggression. The antagonists consider the difficulties and yield to right and law. Reconciliation is imminent.
Wing: Your obsession with the attainment of your personal goals will ultimately cut you off from others. The more you pursue your dream, the farther you drift from your Community. In time, your loneliness will bring you to your senses. Good fortune.
Editor: Psychologically interpreted, a city can symbolize a focus of energy (perhaps a belief-complex), within which its components live in "fellowship." The city walls represent the boundaries defining this belief system. Seen from the outside, the wall is the separation between one condition and another; seen from the inside it provides both definition and sanctuary for its inhabitants. (Regarded this way, the differences between lines three and four can be seen as the differences between the repression and sublimation of a complex.) At any rate, this line depicts a favorable impasse or restraint of power in the situation at hand.
Even though we are not responsible for the way we are and feel, we have to take responsibility for the way we act. Therefore we have to learn to discipline ourselves. And discipline rests on the ability to act in a manner that is contrary to our feelings when necessary. This is an eminently human prerogative as well as a necessity. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. An impasse prevents an unfortunate action.
B. Awareness of an impasse is the first condition necessary for its resolution.
C. Straddling the fence and able to see both sides of the issue, one is prevented from joining either faction.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces first wailing and crying out, and then laughing. His great army conquers, and he and his second line correlate meet together.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, but afterward they laugh. After great struggles they succeed in meeting.
Blofeld: The lovers begin by weeping and wailing, but they finish by laughing, for the crowd succeeds in bringing them together.
Liu: Fellowship of men. They cry and lament. Later they laugh. After great battles they have success.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People beforehand crying-out sobbing and-also afterwards laughing. Great legions controlling mutual meeting.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men at first weeping and wailing, but later laughing; the great captains succeed in meeting each other.
Cleary (1): In sameness with people, first there is weeping, afterward laughter. A great general wins, then meets others.
Wu: Men of fellowship first wail and then laugh. The large armed forces meet after victory.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This arises from his central position and straightforward character. The meeting secured by his great army intimates that its opponents have been overcome. Wilhelm/Baynes: The beginning of the men bound in fellowship is central and straight...they are victorious. Blofeld: This strong line which is central to the upper trigram indicates that they began by weeping. [A strong central line is usually auspicious, but not in this case where we are dealing with something so soft and tender as love.] Fortunately a crowd of people encountered them and, somehow, the right thing was said to bring them together again. Ritsema/Karcher: Using centering straightening indeed. Words mutualize controlling indeed. Cleary (2): It is the middle way. In meeting with the great general, his words overcome. Wu: They together finally achieve victory.
From the Great Treatise:
"The Master said on this:
The ways of good men different seem.
This in a public office toils;
That in his home the time beguiles.
One man his lips with silence seals;
Another all his mind reveals.
But when two men are one in heart,
Not iron bolts keep them apart;
The words they in their union use,
Fragrance like orchid plants diffuse."
Legge: Line five is dynamic in a dynamic and central place, and seeks union with his second-line correlate. However, lines three and four are powerful foes who oppose this union, and their opposition makes him weep. He finally effects his purpose by collecting his forces and defeating his opponents.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: After considerable difficulties, the man collects his forces and overcomes the obstacles to the union of men. Sadness gives way to joy.
Wing: The difficulties and obstacles within the situation cause you much sorrow. If you openly express your distress you will find that you generate similar expressions from your fellow man. Together you can overcome the difficult time and there will be much joy in your newfound unity.
Editor: This line changes the hexagram to Number thirty, Clarity. The corresponding line is almost identical to this one: "Shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune." The idea is that, in this case at least, union and clarity (comprehension and enlightenment) are achieved only through a bitter struggle.
To learn, we must not allow ideas to remain exterior to us, but fuse with them until they become part of our existence. When this is done and our dispositions correspond, the soul is able to formulate and make use of them. It comprehends now what it merely contained before. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. Gather your forces and make a connection. Union or clarity is won after significant effort.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces in the suburbs. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fellowship with men in the meadow. No remorse.
Blofeld: Her beloved is in a distant frontier region -- no regret! [In Chinese history, it often happened that a man was drafted and sent far away to a frontier region from which he could not be expected to return for many years. In this case, his beloved (betrothed or wife) has enough wisdom to give up repining, since the case is a hopeless one. The implication is that we should not repine.]
Liu: Fellowship of men in the open countryside. No remorse.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording people tending-towards the suburbs. Without repenting.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men in the pasture; there is no regret.
Cleary (1): Being the same as people in the countryside, there is no regret.
Cleary (2): Sameness with people in the countryside involves no regret.
Wu: Men of fellowship gather outside of the city. There will be no regret.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His object has not yet been attained. Wilhelm/Baynes: The will is not yet satisfied. Blofeld: This is not what is desired. Ritsema/
Karcher: Purpose not-yet acquired indeed. Cleary (2): The aspiration has not yet been attained. Wu: Their aspirations have not prevailed.
Legge: The union reaches to all within the suburbs, but it is not yet universal. The ideal of the hexagram is found in the Judgment in which the union of forces occurs in the open country. In line six the union is only in the suburbs which surround the city, yet are not quite out in the "open country." This indicates only a partial success, but there is still no cause for repentance.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man achieves fellowship, but only with those nearby. Simply because mankind has not yet attained universal brotherhood, however, is no ground for remorse.
Wing: The unity and fellowship that are possible in this position are not significant in terms of universal needs. However, joining with others, even in a small way, is not a mistake.
Editor: The union of forces is adequate to meet the current situation, but it seems to be a compromise at best. Though the circumstances are said to evoke no remorse, the Confucian commentary leaves no doubt about his assessment of this position. The Work still has a long way to go to be complete, but since that seldom happens this side of hyperspace, any increment of integration has to be better than no progress at all. Blofeld's translation and note seem too specific to facilitate these wider meanings.
Thus, human ego development is basically conditioned by, and continues to unfold between, the divisive Yang pole of separateness and the connecting Yin pole of union. Between these polarities of separation and encounter -- loss of oneness and the re-establishment of oneness through meeting -- the sense of identity continues to grow throughout the life of the individual. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. A minor synthesis.
B. Psychic integration is adequate for the present, but further work is required.
C. "Half a loaf is better than none."
11 Peace
Other titles: Peace, The Symbol of Successfulness, Prospering, Pervading, Greatness, Tranquility, Prosperity, Conjunction, Major Synthesis, Hieros Gamos, Holy Marriage, "Yang supporting yin and going to meet each other. Good prospects for a marriage or partnership." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Harmony shows the inferior departed and the great arrived. There will be good fortune with progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Peace. The small departs, the great approaches. Good fortune. Success.
Blofeld: Peace. The mean decline; the great and good approach -- good fortune and success! [In the following hexagram (Divorcement), where the trigrams symbolize heaven and earth in what would appear to be their normal positions, that arrangement is held to be disastrous; whereas here, where they seem to be upside down, everything is propitious. This may be because heaven above earth is held to imply that the two are existing separately without the intercourse which is the root of all growth; whereas here their intercourse is so absolute that heaven is actually supporting earth.]
Liu: Peace. The small is departing, the great is arriving. Good fortune. Success.
Ritsema/Karcher: Pervading . The small going, the great coming. significance Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of prospering and expanding. It emphasizes that continually spreading this prosperity through communicating is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Greatness: the little go and the great come; auspicious; receipt.
Cleary (1): The small goes, the great comes. This is auspicious and developmental.
Cleary (2):Tranquility … Getting through auspiciously.
Wu:Prosperity shows that the small stays outside and the great stays inside. It will be auspicious and pervasive.
The Image
Legge: The intercourse of heaven and earth -- the image of Harmony.The wise ruler models his laws upon the principles of heaven and earth, and enforces them for the people's benefit.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven and earth unite: the image of Peace. Thus the ruler divides and completes the course of heaven and earth; he furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth, and so aids the people.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes heaven and earth in communion. [The component trigrams illustrate the kind of close intercourse just alluded to. This is surely the only way of depicting it under the circumstances, for any mingling of their component lines would produce quite different trigrams having no reference to heaven and earth.] It is as though a mighty ruler, by careful regulation of affairs, has brought to fruition the way of heaven and earth. In harmony with the sequence of their motions, he gives help to people on every hand.
Liu: Heaven and earth are unified, symbolizing Peace. The ruler reforms and completes the way of heaven and earth; He observes the appropriate methods of heaven and earth to direct the people.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven and Earth mingling. Pervading. The crown-prince uses property to accomplish Heaven and Earth's tao. The crown-prince uses bracing to mutualize Heaven and Earth's propriety. The crown-prince uses the left to right the commoners.
Cleary (1): When heaven and earth commune, there is tranquility. Thus does the ruler administer the way of heaven and earth and assist the proper balance of heaven and earth, thereby helping the people.
Cleary (2): … So as to influence the people.
Wu:Prosperity results from the interaction of heaven and earth. The king uses the wealth of the nation to achieve the ways of heaven and earth and to support their designs, so as to bring the sentiments of the people to the center.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Harmony shows the union of heaven and earth, and all things consequently united -- high and low, superior and inferior are all in accord. The lower trigram is made up of dynamic lines, and the upper of magnetic lines: strength is within, devotion is without; the superior man is inside and increasing, the inferior man is outside and decreasing.
Legge: The Judgment refers to the structure of the hexagram, with the three dynamic lines below, and the three magnetic lines above. The former are "the great," active and vigorous; the latter are "the inferior," passive and yielding. In many editions of theI Chingbeneath the hexagram of Harmonythere appears hexagram number fifty-four,Propriety, which becomes Harmonyif the third and fourth lines exchange places. A situation in which the motive forces are represented by three dynamic, and the opposing by three magnetic lines, must be progressive and successful.Harmonyis called the hexagram of the first month of the natural spring, when for six months the forces of growth are in ascendance.
Canon McClatchie translates: "The Image means that heaven and earth have now conjugal intercourse with each other, and the upper and lower classes unite together."
Ch'eng-tzu says on the Image that a ruler should frame his laws to operate like the seasons, so that the people exist within the structure of a natural rather than an arbitrary order.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Harmony depicts the waning of egotistical illusions and the waxing of true potential.
The Superior Man allows his inner virtue to rule the psyche.
Without changing lines, Harmony suggests a fruitful union of opposites and consequent state of balance in the matter at hand.
Wilhelm translates the opening phrase of the Confucian commentary as: "Heaven and earth unite." Blofeld renders it: "The celestial and terrestrial forces have intercourse and all things are in communion with one another." Legge has already called attention to McClatchie's version of: "Heaven and earth have now conjugal intercourse with each other."
This image is one of the most universal symbols produced by the human psyche: the sexual union of Spirit and Matter (heaven and earth). This is the hieros gamos or holy marriage of alchemy, the union of Shiva and Shakti in Hinduism, the conjoined male and female deities in tantric Buddhism, the syzygies of Gnosticism and the union of heaven and earth in the Kabbalah.
The notions of the couple and the sacred marriage held a very important place in ancient Chinese religious thinking. Every sacred power was twofold, male and female; but since only one half of the sacred couple was generally enclosed in any one sanctuary, the ritual was directed at reconstituting the whole... The complete being is male and female; since most men neglect or repress their feminine nature, they are out of balance; their male aggressiveness comes to the fore, and their whole vitality suffers. There can be no true Holiness without a prior revitalization of femininity. M. Kaltenmark --Lao Tzu and Taoism
Psychologically, the condition pictured by this hexagram is a metaphor for a high state of integration within the psyche. Here it is described in alchemical and Jungian terminology:
The hermetic vessel is oneself. In it the many pieces of psychic stuff scattered throughout one's world must be collected and fused into one, so making a new creation. In it must occur the union of the opposites called by the alchemists the coniunctio or marriage... (This union), in psychological terms corresponds to man with his feminine soul, the anima, or to a woman with her masculine counterpart, the animus -- the union in each case constituting the inner marriage, the hieros gamos by which the individual must become whole. M.E. Harding --Psychic Energy
To receive this hexagram does not necessarily mean that one has attained such a high integration, but it might indicate a step in that direction. The ultimate hieros gamos only occurs after all of the scattered and mismatched forces within the psyche have been brought together in correct alignment -- in I Ching terms, when all of the lines are in their proper places with proper correlates as imaged in hexagram number 63, Completion. Until this final union there are innumerable "lesser" conjunctions which must first take place -- a fact recognized in tantric yoga:
The final goal of the tantricist is to reunite the two contrary principles -- Shiva and Shakti -- in his own body. When Shakti, who sleeps, in the shape of a serpent, at the base of his body, is awoken by certain yogic techniques, she moves through a medial channel by way of the chakras up to the top of the skull, where Shiva dwells, and unites with him. The union of the divine pair within his own body transforms the yogin into a kind of "androgyne." But it must be stressed that "androgynization" is only one aspect of a total process, that of the reunion of the opposites. Actually, Tantric literature speaks of a great number of "opposing pairs" that have to be reunited. Mircea Eliade -- Myths, Rites, Symbols
The establishment of the " Kingdom of Heaven on Earth" is yet another metaphor for this process of psychic unification. Here is the Kabbalistic version:
It is by the establishment of the celestial on the terrestrial, or of heaven upon earth, that the house of the King (humanity) will become united and the King will rejoice thereat, for then the two kingdoms will become one and then the new and living way will become opened to those who make themselves susceptible and receptive of the Higher and Diviner life... When these two worlds become united and blended together they are symbolized by the union of the male and female, the one being the complement of the other. The Zohar
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Legge points out that many editions of the I Chingassociate hexagram number fifty-four,Propriety, with this figure. What do the changing third and fourth lines ofPropriety imply about the role of the ego in the Work? The traditional name forPropriety is "The Marrying Maiden" -- how does that relate to the concept of the holy marriage in Harmony? Compare the Judgments and Images of the two hexagrams and the role of the superior man in each. Note also the lesson implied when lines two and five in Harmony unite to make hexagram number sixty-three, Completion.