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Grace22
Refinement and grace enhance your presence. Focus on beauty and elegance in actions, but do not let appearance overshadow substance. Simplicity often holds the truest value.
↓ Line 4
True grace is natural and unforced. Wait for the right moment to act.
↓ Line 6
True grace is simple and unadorned. Avoid excess and remain true to oneself.
↓ Abundance55
Abundance and prosperity surround you, but be mindful not to let them lead to arrogance or distraction. Stay focused and genuine in the present moment to make the most of your opportunities.
Original Readings
22 Grace
Other titles: Grace, The Symbol of Decoration, Elegance, Gracefulness, Luxuriance, Adorning, Public Image, Adornment, Beauty, Conceit, Vanity, Veneer, Façade, Manners, Embellishment, Superficiality, Superficial Appearances, Form vs. Function, "Art," Ego-trips, "Often refers to conceit, vanity or beauty. It stresses that the content is more important than the outward appearance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Persona should be given its due, but there is no advantage in allowing it to advance and take the lead.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Grace has success. In small matters it is favorable to undertake something.
Blofeld: Elegance. Success! Some small advantage can be derived from having a particular goal (or destination). [The implication is that the advantage is not sufficient to make it worth while to seek that goal or destination unless no special difficulty or inconvenience is involved. The arrangement of the lines in this hexagram is very similar to that in the previous one, but it is adjudged much more suitable. The general idea is that, like nature, we should conform to a regular and well ordered pattern of behavior which, since we are human beings and not mere animals, involves a high degree of refinement. From the point of view of divination, it would seem that this is a time to watch carefully so as to learn how those involved in the situation think and behave, the better to influence them for the good when the opportunity arises.]
Liu:Gracefulness, success. Small undertakings benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher: Adorning , Growing. The small, Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of its outward presentation. It emphasizes that building intrinsic value by embellishing appearance and displaying valor is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Luxuriance : Receipt; a little beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1):Adornment is developmental. It is beneficial to go somewhere in a minimal way.
Cleary (2):Adornment is successful. It is beneficial to go somewhere in a small way.
Wu:Adornment is pervasive and shows small advantage of an undertaking. [Adornment does not change the nature of what it adorns, but merely makes what it adorns appear more attractive. In other words, the change is mostly superficial but not substantive…]
The Image
Legge: Fire at the foot of the mountain -- the image of Persona. Thus the superior man adorns his rule with grace, but makes important decisions in conformance with higher laws.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire at the foot of the mountain: the image of Grace. Thus does the superior man proceed when clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man, desiring to ensure the enlightened functioning of the various departments of state, dare not make light decisions regarding legal matters. [The component trigrams, fire below mountain, suggest a brilliance which cannot be perceived from afar. The Chinese commentators go on to suggest that this symbolizes a firm and somewhat severe exterior which hides brilliance and the beauty within. For purposes of divination, this should be taken as a pattern for our comportment in the matter at issue.]
Liu: Fire illuminates the base of the mountain symbolizing Gracefulness. Thus the superior man clarifies ordinary affairs, but does not judge lawsuits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing fire. Adorning. A chun tzu uses brightening the multitudinous standards without daring to sever litigating.
Cleary (1): There is fire below the mountain, adorning it. Thus do superior people clarify governmental affairs, without presumptuous adjudication. [What superior people see in this is that just as the light of a fire below a mountain is not great, when people are lacking in capacity their vision is not far reaching; therefore the superior people administer and clarify the simple matters of governmental affairs, and do not act presumptuously in difficult matters of adjudication… Not judging presumptuously thus has the meaning of respect for life.]
Wu: There is fire at the foot of the mountain; this is Adornment. The jun zi brings openness to administering civil affairs, but refrains from judging cases in criminal litigation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Persona we see the magnetic central line ornamenting the dynamic lines of the lower trigram, and hence it is said that ornament should have free course. On the other hand, the dynamic top line ornaments the magnetic lines of the upper trigram, and hence it is said that there will be little advantage if ornament is allowed to advance and take the lead. The elegance and intelligence of the lower trigram is regulated by the restraint of the upper trigram. This suggests the observances which adorn human society. We observe the ornamental figures of the sky, and thereby ascertain the changes of the seasons. We observe the ceremonial customs of society, and understand how transformation is accomplished in the world.
Legge: Persona is the symbol of what is ornamental and of the act of adorning. As there is adornment in nature, so should there be in society, but its place is secondary to that which is substantial.
The K'ang-hsi editors say that the magnetic line coming and ornamenting the two dynamic lines in the lower trigram shows how substantiality should have the benefit of ornamentation. The dynamic line ornamenting the two magnetic lines in the upper trigram shows how ornamentation should be restrained by substantiality. Ornament has its use, but it should be kept in check.
The figures of the sky are all the heavenly bodies in their relative positions and various movements, producing day and night, heat and cold, etc. The observances of society are the ceremonies and performances which regulate and beautify the intercourse of men.
"A mountain," says Ch'eng-tzu, "is a place where we find grass, trees, and a hundred other things. A fire burning below it throws up its light, and brings them all out in beauty. This gives the idea of ornament, or being ornamented. The various processes of government are small matters, and elegance and ornament help their course, but great matters of judgment demand the simple, unadorned truth.”
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: There's nothing wrong with showing a little style, but don't become so identified with a role that it makes your decisions for you.
The Superior Man displays wit and charm when that is appropriate, but relies upon shrewd discernment when making serious choices.
Confucius points out the correct attitude for this hexagram in his third sentence -- the elegant intelligence, or "brilliant wit" of the lower trigram is being "sat on" by the mountain of the upper trigram. Brilliant wit is often just an "ornament" to make one look clever in the company of others. Like seasoning on food, a little bit ofPersona or ornamentation is life-enhancing, but too much curry powder overwhelms the meal.
Jung's conception of the Persona points out the fact that it is a major vehicle for the complexes to express themselves under the guise of social interaction:
(The Persona) is only a mask for the collective psyche, a mask that feigns individuality, and tries to make others and oneself believe that one is individual, whereas one is simply playing a part in which the collective psyche speaks. Jung -- The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious
For an urban shipping clerk to wear cowboy clothes may be a legitimate expression of his personality, or it may be the only outlet available for repressed portions of his psyche. When he begins driving a pickup truck and frequenting Country-Western bars we might suspect that his role is playing him and the real Self is being masked by excessive ornamentation orPersona.
The person cannot be more than an instrument for the manifestation of the self. But people get so attached to their mask that they cannot free themselves from it any more ... They make a king out of the servant and separate themselves from their true being. They force their higher self into exile, into the unconscious. Elisabeth Haich --Initiation
To receive this hexagram without changing lines suggests that perhaps you are more focused on form than meaning, or that superficial appearances are concealing something more substantive in the situation. Look deeper – what’s really going on?
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows one looking as if adorned, but only in white. As if mounted on a white horse, and furnished with wings, she seeks union with the subject of the first line, while the intervening third pursues, not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Grace or simplicity? A white horse comes as if on wings. He is not a robber, he will woo at the right time.
Blofeld: He so adorns himself as to seem white as snow. He is, as it were, a white steed. What delays his progress is not an obstacle but a matter of betrothal.
Liu: Simple decoration. A white horse comes as though flying. Not a robber, but a suitor.
Ritsema/Karcher: Adorning thus, hoary thus. A white horse, soaring thus. In-no-way outlawry, matrimonial allying.
Shaughnessy: Luxuriantly, lushly, the white horse is lofty-like; it is not the robbers who confusedly slander.
Cleary (1): Adorned or plain? A white horse runs swiftly. It is not an enemy but a mate. [It is best if one finds what is right when one is weak; the true heart and genuine intention come forth spontaneously, not forced – when there is no enmity or injury, then it is desirable to seek partnership. This is the adornment of the weak seeking clarity.]
Cleary (2): Adorned plainly, a white horse runs swiftly. They are not enemies but partners.
Wu: He adorns himself in white like a white horse with wings. He is a suitor, not a transgressor.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The place occupied by the fourth line affords ground for doubt as to its subject. But because the third line pursues not as a robber, but intent on marriage, she will in the end have no grudge against him. Wilhelm/Baynes: The fourth place is in doubt; this accords with its place. "He is not a robber, he will woo at the right time.” In the end, one remains free of blame. Blofeld: This ruling line indicates the existence of suspicion; however, as revealed by the last sentence, nothing blameworthy is involved. [It would seem that someone is suspected of loitering or hesitating for a somewhat sinister reason, but that his motive is in fact an honorable one.] Ritsema/Karcher: Appropriate situation to doubt indeed. In- no-way outlawry, matrimonial allying. Completing without surpassing indeed. Cleary (2): The fourth (magnetic line), in its place, doubts. They are not enemies but partners, and ultimately have no grudge. Wu: If he is a suitor, not a transgressor, he will have nothing to worry about at all.
Legge: Line four has its proper correlate in line one, from whose strength she should receive adornment. But lines two and three intervene and keep them apart so that the only adornment is white. The fourth line is faithful to line one however, and desires their union. Finally line three appears in a good character, and not with the purpose to injure, so that the union between one and four takes place. All this in intended to show how adornment recognizes the superiority of solidity. Compare hexagram lines 3:2 and 38:6. Because of their separation we might doubt how far line four would remain loyal to line one. The loyalty is insured through the character and object of line three.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is faced with the choice between a life of brilliance and one of simplicity. All considerations suggest simplicity. Renouncing potential comforts may seem disappointing at first, but peace of mind will be attained through proper relationship with the sincere supporter.
Wing: You have a choice of two paths. One is the path of adornment and external brilliance; the other is the path of simplicity and inner worth. Your considerations suggest a deeper connection with your true Self. The path of simplicity will lead to more meaningful relationships with others and greater self-knowledge.
Wilhelm (from Lectures on the I Ching): Here is the point where life is silent for a moment, and now the decision must be made how to continue shaping life.
Editor: There are three main ideas here -- first, the idea of being "adorned in white." Clothing symbolizes the opinions and attitudes which "adorn" our personality. To be dressed in white therefore, is to be simple and unpretentious – the opposite of complexity and ostentation.
Second , the image of a flying white horse. This suggests purified (white) psychic energy (horsepower) united with the wings of intellectual aspiration. Wings enable entities to fly in the air -- symbolically, the realm of thought. We are immediately reminded of Pegasus, and although we can assume that the Duke of Chou knew nothing of Pegasus, the symbolic associations are not irrelevant here. Pegasus is associated in Greek mythology with the Muses -- the sources of creativity and inspiration.
The third idea is of marriage -- the conjunction of masculine and feminine in a holy union or hieros gamos: the creative synthesis of thought and feeling within the psyche. However, the suitor can't unite with the subject of the line until all confusion has been eliminated from the situation. He is perceived as a "robber" because the barriers to union must be removed ("stolen") before the alliance can take place: in other words, an illusion prevails.
This line (and indeed the entire hexagram) is often received in answer to questions concerning creativity or the creative process. If this is the only changing line, the new hexagram created is number thirty, Clarity.
I discriminate between the ordinary ego-consciousness of the man and his creative personality. Very often there is a striking difference. Personally a creative man can be an introvert, but in his work he is an extravert and vice versa. Jung -- Letters
A. You don't understand the matter at hand. Unseen forces are working toward unity however, and clarity will eventually dawn.
B. The image suggests the gestation of a creative idea.
C. Don't complicate the situation -- a creative solution will mature in the course of time.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows one with white as his only ornament. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Simple grace. No blame.
Blofeld: Simple elegance. No error!
Liu: Simple decoration. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: White adorning. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: White luxury; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Adornment by simplicity is impeccable.
Wu: He is unadorned and there will be no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The line shows how he has attained his aim. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The one above attains his will. Blofeld: This top line indicates the fulfillment of our will. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring purpose above indeed. Cleary (2): One attains one’s aspiration above. Wu: His aspiration has prevailed.
Legge: At the top of the hexagram ornament has run its course and there is a return to pure white simplicity. Substantiality is better than ornament. The subject of the sixth line shows more of the spirit of the hexagram than most. His being clothed in simple white crowns the lesson that ornament must be kept in a secondary place.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man reaches the peak of his development, and displays perfect grace through the true expression of his character without pretensions. He understands the patterns of human frailties.
Wing: You can rely now upon the sincerity of your true nature to supply your external radiance. Pretensions, form, and adornments are no longer necessary to achieve your aims. Simplicity is the path you must take. In this way you will make no mistakes.
Wilhelm (from Lectures on the I Ching): Highest spirituality is connected with complete absence of outward pretense.
Editor: Questions concerning artistic creativity are sometimes addressed by this line -- differentiating the intent of the muse (Self) from the ambitions of the artist (ego). We are reminded of the difference between unity and multiplicity -- unity being one simple whole, multiplicity being many diverse complexities or "ornaments."
Only the truly intelligent understand this principle of the leveling of all things into One. They discard the distinctions and take refuge in the common and ordinary things. The common and ordinary things serve certain functions and therefore retain the wholeness of nature. From this wholeness, one comprehends, and from comprehension, one comes near to Tao. There one stops. To stop without knowing how one stops -- this is Tao. Chuangtse
A. "Keep it simple."
55 Abundance
Other titles: Abundance, Fullness, The Symbol of Prosperity, Greatness, Abounding, Richness, Prolific, Fruitful, Luxuriant, Zenith, Affluence, Correct Action, Lucid Behavior, "Generally means that one will have enough for one's needs with a little over. Does not mean large wealth as a rule." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Expansion of Awareness means progress and development. When the king is enlightened there is no need to fear a change. Let him be as the sun at noon.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Abundance has success. The king attains abundance. Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday.
Blofeld:Abundance -- success! The King inspires them. Do not be sad; it is fitting to be like the sun at its zenith. [Abundance in itself is often good; but it is generally followed by the waning of what was abundant; moreover, as we shall see, there can be abundance of darkness, or anything else unpleasant. (The Judgment itself) may be taken as an auspicious omen.]
Liu: Greatness. Success. The king attains greatness, without sadness; he should be like the sun at midday.
Ritsema/Karcher:Abounding, Growing. The king imagining it. No grief. Properly sun centering. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of profusion and abundance reaching culmination. It emphasizes that exuberantly increasing things to their fullest is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Abundance: Receipt; the king approaches it; do not be sad. It is proper for the middle of the day.
Cleary (1): Richness is developmental. Freedom from worry when the king is great is suited to midday.
Cleary (2):Richness is success; a king attains this. Do not worry. Take advantage of the sun at noon.
Wu: A sage king will attain abundance. There is no need to worry, for he knows the expedience of observing the midday sun.
The Image
Legge: The superior man, in accordance with this, decides cases of litigation, and apportions punishments with exactness.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Both thunder and lightning come: the image of Abundance. Thus the superior man decides lawsuits and carries out punishments.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder and lightning occurring simultaneously. The Superior Man decides law suits and inflicts the necessary penalties.
Liu: Thunder and lightning coming together symbolize Greatness. The superior man judges lawsuits and imposes punishments.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, lightning, altogether culminating. Abounding. A chun tzu uses severing litigating to involve punishing.
Cleary (1): Thunder and lightning both arrive, abundant. Thus do superior people pass judgment and execute punishment.
Cleary (2): Thunder and lightning both come in richness. Thus do leaders pass judgments and execute punishments.
Wu: Thunder and lightning come together; this is Abundance. Thus the jun zi decides the verdicts and exacts the punishments.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The greatness of Expansion of Awareness is due to Movement directed by Clarity. Although the king has attained this state, he must still make it greater. But there is no need for anxiety -- let him be as the sun at noon: let his clarity shine on all under the sky. As soon as sun and moon reach zenith their light begins to wane. The intercourse of heaven and earth alternates between abundance and scarcity. It waxes and wanes according to the seasons. How much more so with men or spiritual forces! [Ritsema/Karcher translate "spiritual forces" [Kuei Shen] as: "The whole range of imaginal beings both inside and outside the individual; spiritual powers, gods, demons, ghosts, powers, fetishes." -- Ed.]
Legge: The written Chinese character denoting Expansion of Awarenessis the symbol of being large and abundant -- a condition of prosperity. In human affairs, prosperity often gives place to its opposite. The lesson of the hexagram is to show how the ruler may preserve the prosperity of his state and people. The component trigrams show Motive Force under the direction of Intelligence. A ruler with these attributes will not fail to maintain the progress and development of his kingdom. He is told not to be anxious, but to study how he may always be like the sun at its zenith, cheering and enlightening all.
It must be noted that a change has been introduced in this hexagram in explaining the symbolism of the lines. Normally, for two lines to have a correct relationship one must be female (magnetic) and the other male (dynamic). Here two dynamic male lines make a proper correlation in the first and fourth places.
In the Image, lightning appears as the natural phenomenon of which Clarity is the symbol in the lower trigram. The virtues of Clarity and Movement are required of the superior man in judging litigation.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Don't grieve when the truth hurts: a loss of illusion is a gain in awareness. Once truly attained, enlightenment cannot be lost, it can only be increased.
The Superior Man acts with clarity by accurately evaluating cause and effect. [Or: The objective assessment of any contradiction is the road to comprehending it.]
The fifty-fifth hexagram is very intriguing in that it appears to have a misleading title in the original Chinese, which is usually translated as Abundance,Fullness, Prosperity, etc. All of the internal clues, plus empirical experience with the figure have convinced me that the title Expansion of Awareness is a more accurate description of the forces operating in this hexagram. Here is my reasoning:
First, the component trigrams of Clarity and Movement portray action directed by clear comprehension, as well as awareness itself in motion or expansion. The title of Abundance seems misleading because it suggests a relatively static condition, whereas the combined trigrams in the figure symbolize Clear Movement. These trigrams appear in reverse sequence in hexagram number twenty-one, Discernment, which symbolizes the act of comprehending -- a dynamic function of consciousness described in the Image here as a quest for justice: "Thus the superior man decides lawsuits and carries out punishments." (Wilhelm) Notice also that the message for the superior man in this Image is almost identical with that in Discernment:"Thus the kings of former times made firm the laws through clearly defined penalties." (Wilhelm) The ancient kings can always be taken as symbolic of archetypal forces (the "gods"), so their laws are those of nature, not of humankind. Interpreted broadly, both messages counsel us to: "Comprehend the law of Tao, or suffer the penalties of ignorance." Which is to say: "expand your awareness."
Second, note the message in the Judgment. Most of the translators render this by comparing the king at the peak of his power with the sun at the peak of its illumination at noon. The sun is the symbol of clarity and enlightenment, and the sun at its zenith therefore symbolizes a high point of awareness.
Third, notice that lines two, three and four depict an eclipse of the sun through its waxing, full and waning phases. This suggests ignorance gradually evolving toward comprehension, which is finally attained in line five. The progression in the hexagram is from ignorance to clarity, and then in line six, ignorance within clarity -- i.e., an image of one who remains obtuse while surrounded by the light of illumination.
Fourth, the combined trigrams of shock and light (thunder and lightning) suggest a sudden and numinous illumination: the sort of en-light-enment (expansion of awareness) described by Yogis:
Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord ... The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light ... I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I knew myself to be, a small point of awareness confined in a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exaltation and happiness impossible to describe. Gopi Krishna --Kundalini, the Evolutionary Energy in Man
It is possible that the written character translated into English as Abundance has these associations in Chinese. Unfortunately, the title of Abundance itself does not immediately suggest in the English language the ideas that are integral in the symbolism of the hexagram.