Harness your inner strength and channel it towards uniting with others, for through shared purpose, boundless potential is realized.
From
34
Great Power
To
45
Gathering Together
Forcing others to turn back
One paralyzes the movement of others by making waves. taoscopy.com
Great Power34
Harness inner strength wisely; true power comes from patience and understanding, not force.
↓ Line 1
Acting with force prematurely leads to misfortune. One must be cautious and not rush into action.
↓ Line 2
Steadfastness and determination lead to success. One should remain committed to their path.
↓ Line 3
Using force recklessly leads to entanglement and danger. Wisdom lies in restraint and understanding one's limits.
↓ Line 5
Letting go of stubbornness and rigidity brings freedom and relief. There is no regret in releasing what holds one back.
↓ Gathering Together45
Coming together for a shared purpose; unity and collective effort lead to strength. It's time to rally support and focus on communal goals.
Other titles: The Power of the Great, The Symbol of Great Vigor, Persons of Great Authority, Great Strength, Great Invigorating, Great Maturity, Accumulated Force, The Strength of the Mighty, Righteous Power, Excessive Force
Judgment
Legge:Great Power necessitates firm correctness.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: The Power of the Great. Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. [This hexagram with a solid group of firm lines topped by a small number of yielding lines obviously signifies strength -- in this case the power to succeed in spite of difficulties. Much of what follows concerns goats -- a symbol presumably suggested by the form of the hexagram, namely a solid body distinguished by a pair of horns -- the yielding lines at the top.]
Liu: Great Power. It is of benefit to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Great Invigorating , Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the invigorating power of a central creative idea. It emphasizes that animating everything around you through this guiding motivation is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to invigorate through the great!]
Shaughnessy: Great Maturity: Beneficial to determine.
Cleary(1):Great power is beneficial when correct.
Wu: Great Strength indicates that it is advantageous to be persevering.
The Image
Legge: The image of thunder over heaven forms the hexagram of Great Power. The superior man, in accordance with this, does not take one step that is not in accordance with propriety.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder in heaven above: The image of The Power of the Great. Thus the superior man does not tread upon paths that do not accord with established order.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder in the sky. The Superior Man never takes a step involving impropriety. [Note: The combination of trigrams meaning thunder and sky suggests something of the awe-inspiring quality of the truly great.]
Liu: Thunder in the sky above symbolizes Great Power. The superior man's conduct does not oppose the rules.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder located above heaven. Great Invigorating. A chun tzu uses no codes whatever, nowhere treading.
Cleary (1): Thunder is up in the sky, with great power. Thus do superior people refrain from what is improper.
Cleary (2): … Developed people do not do what is improper.
Wu: There is thunder above heaven; this is Great Strength. Thus the jun zi does not practice what is not proper.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Great Powerwe see that which is great becoming strong. The trigram of Strength directs the trigram of Movement, and hence the whole is expressive of vigor. But that which is great necessitates firm correctness. The attributes of heaven and earth are displayed when firmness and correctness attain their ideal state.
Legge: Because the dynamic lines predominate in Great Power,the figure suggests a state in which there is an abundance of strength and vigor. Is strength alone enough for the conduct of affairs? Of course not! Strength must always be subordinated to the idea of right, and exerted only in harmony with it.
The lower trigram symbolizes Strength, the upper symbolizes Movement. In the Confucian commentary, "that which is great” denotes the group of four dynamic lines which strikes us on looking at the figure, and also the superior men in positions of power, of whom these are the representatives. That the attributes of heaven and earth are displayed means that the power of men should be a reflection of the great power which we see impartially working in nature.
Ch'eng-tzu says on the Image: "Thunder rolling in the sky and making all things shake is the symbol of Great Power." In relating its application to man, he quotes a beautiful saying of antiquity: "The strong man is he who overcomes himself."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Control yourself.
The Superior Man does nothing that is not in accordance with the principles of the Work.
Wilhelm and Blofeld translate this hexagram as The Power of the Great., but I prefer Liu's rendition of Great Power, because it has a more neutral connotation. The Power of the Great suggests the might of kings and emperors, and implies "superior" power wielded at one's own discretion. It is too easy to misinterpret this hexagram as a clear injunction to take unilateral action. Such is seldom the case -- the hexagram depicts a charge of latent energy which must be properly managed.
The figure is usually compared with the image of a ram or goat -- the four lower dynamic lines being the body, and the two upper magnetic lines representing the horns. Since this hexagram is the preceding figure of Retreat turned upside down, one can imagine the two together as a person retreating across a pasture pursued by a charging beast. The ram/goat is mentioned in four of the six lines of the hexagram. This is certainlyGreat Power, but in such a crude form it cannot be truthfully called The Power of the Great.
Truly Great Power, as the Judgment tells us, is derived from our will to restrain our emotions, instincts and appetites. Note that lines two and four are the most positively forceful lines in the hexagram and that both imply restraint of power as the proper way to attain one's goals. Without changing lines, the hexagram sometimes refers to provocations in which one is "legitimately” tempted to a self-righteous display of "power.” Remember that other people's ego-trips are none of your concern: the superior man does not respond to them with other than dignified reserve. Regard it as a test and be joyful if you pass it!
Everything found in later literature seems to indicate that these meditative schools required a strong discipline and faithful adherence to a strict regimen. The schools were extremely demanding, and were open only to those willing to devote themselves totally. Before even being admitted to one of these ancient meditative schools, a person had to be not only spiritually advanced but in complete control of all his emotions and feelings. Beyond that, the disciplines of the Torah and commandments were central to these schools, and these disciplines required a degree of self-mastery to which not everyone could aspire. Aryeh Kaplan -- Jewish Meditation
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject manifesting his strength in his toes. But advance will lead to evil -- most certainly.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Power in the toes. Continuing brings misfortune. This is certainly true.
Blofeld: Power in the toes. [I.e. power of a rather low or limited kind.] To advance now would bring misfortune.
Liu: Power in the toes. Actions lead to misfortune. This is true.
Ritsema/Karcher: Invigorating tending-towards the feet. Chastising: pitfall, possessing conformity.
Shaughnessy: Mature in the foot; to be upright is inauspicious; there is a return.
Cleary (1): With power in the feet, it is inauspicious to go forth on an expedition – there is truth in this.
Cleary (2): With power in the feet, an expedition bodes ill, having certainty.
Wu: Having strength in the toes indicates foreboding to proceed, confidence notwithstanding.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This will certainly lead to exhaustion. Wilhelm/Baynes: This certainly leads to failure. Blofeld: The confidence symbolized by power in the toes is soon exhausted. Ritsema/Karcher: One's conforming exhausted indeed. Cleary (2): With power in the feet, that certainty comes to an impasse. Wu: Confidence has been misplaced.
Legge: This line is dynamic, in its correct place, and is the first line of the lower trigram of Strength in the hexagram of Great Power. The essence of the hexagram might seem to be concentrated in it and hence we see it symbolized by "strength in the toes," or "advancing." But such action is
too bold to be undertaken by one in the lowest place, and in addition there is no proper correlate in line four. From exhaustion will follow distress and other evils.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man in a lowly situation possesses great energy. Seeking advancement through force, however, will bring misfortune.
Wing: Even though you have the strength, proceeding with your plan would be a mistake. You must not force this issue because you are not in a position to do so successfully.
Editor: Compare this line with the definition of compulsion:
Compulsion:1a. an act of compelling: a driving by force, power, pressure, or necessity. 2. an irresistible impulse to perform an irrational act.
The power is in the toes, the lowest part of the body, and the very bottom of the hexagram. This suggests a compulsive, unconscious drive, or an ill-considered impulse to act. If it is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number thirty-two, Consistency,Duration or Standing Fast, which is the implied proper response here. In its most neutral interpretation, this line images a strong urge or impetus to take action.
"Men are only apparently drawn from in front; in reality they are pushed from behind;" they think they are led on by what they see, when in truth they are driven on by what they feel, -- by instincts of whose operation they are half the time unconscious. W. Durant -- (Quoting Schopenhauer) The Story of Philosophy
A. An inner force seeks expression. Quell your impulse to act.
B. "Don't jump to conclusions."
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows that with firm correctness there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune.
Liu: Persistence brings good fortune. It (the second line) is in the center (the middle way).
Ritsema/Karcher: Trial: significant.
Shaughnessy: Determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Rectitude is auspicious.
Cleary (2): Correctness is auspicious.
Wu: Perseverance will bring auspiciousness.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Because he is in the center and exemplifies the due mean. Wilhelm/Baynes: Because it is in the central place. Blofeld: This is indicated by the line's central position in the lower trigram. Ritsema/ Karcher: Using centering indeed. Cleary (2): Because of balance. Wu: Because the second line is central.
Legge: The strength of line two is tempered by his being in a magnetic place which is also in the center. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. The central position and the due moral mean in line two are illustrative of the maxim: "The strong man is he who overcomes himself."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The way begins to open for growth and progress. Exuberant self-confidence needs to be tempered by continued inner equilibrium in the use of power.
Wing: Moderation now is the key to lasting success. Do not allow yourself to become overconfident because you meet with such little resistance in your efforts. Use your power carefully.
Editor: The symbolism of the line, and Legge's commentary point out the fact that willpower is the cornerstone of the Work.
A man is, above all, his will. As is his will in this life, so does he become when he departs from it. Therefore should his will be fixed on attaining Brahman. Chandogya Upanishad
A. Willpower succeeds.
B. "Don't give up the ship."
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows, in the case of an inferior man, one
using all his strength; and in the case of a superior man, one whose rule is not to do so. Even with firm correctness the position would be perilous. The exercise of strength in it might be compared to the case of a ram butting against a fence, and getting his horns entangled.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The inferior man works through power. The superior man does not act thus. To continue is dangerous. A goat butts against a hedge and gets its horns entangled.
Blofeld: Inferior men use their power where (under the circumstances prevailing) the Superior Man refrains from using his. Persistence now would bring serious consequences, as when a goat butts against a hedge and gets its horns entangled.
Liu: The inferior man uses his power, while the superior man does not. The goat butts against a hedge, entangling his horns. To continue is dangerous.
Ritsema/Karcher: Small People avail-of Invigorating. A chun tzu avails-of absence. Trial: adversity. The he goat butts a hedge. Ruining his horns.
Shaughnessy: The little man uses maturity, the gentleman uses loss; determination is dangerous. A ram butts a fence, and weakens its horns.
Cleary (1): For inferior people the use is powerful, but for superior people the use is nil. It is dangerous to persist in this, goat, etc.
Cleary (2): Petty people use power; superior people use nothingness, chaste in danger, goat, etc.
Wu: A little man deploys strength indiscreetly; a jun zi doe not do so. There is peril ahead, goat, etc.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The inferior man uses all his strength; in the case of the superior man it is his rule not to do so. Wilhelm/Baynes: The inferior man uses his power. This the superior man does not do. Blofeld: This means that inferior men use their power and the Superior Man is likely to be tricked. Ritsema/Karcher: Small People avail-of Invigorating. A chun tzu: absence indeed. Cleary (2): Petty people use power; superior people disappear. Wu: A little man deploys strength indiscreetly, but a jun zi does not.
Legge: Line three is dynamic, and in his proper place at the top of the trigram of Strength. An inferior man so placed will use all of his strength to the utmost. Not so the superior man. For him the position is beyond the safe middle, and he will be cautious not to injure himself like the ram by exerting all of his strength.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The situation becomes entangled and perilous. The inferior man in power applies full force and gets himself irretrievably enmeshed. He is like a goat butting against a hedge and getting its horns entangled. The superior man renounces empty display of force and retains the secure middle position.
Wing: Only inferior people boast of their power or demonstrate it ostentatiously. This creates many unnecessary entanglements and, ultimately, danger. Do not persist in this. Concealed power, at this time, has the greatest effect.
Editor: The image suggests the difference between forcing an issue and allowing it to develop naturally.
"Good fortune, evil fortune, occasion for repentance, and reason for regret all arise from activity." Alas! Good fortune is only one out of four. Should we not be careful about activity? Chou Tun-I
A. Forcing the issue only ends in impasse.
B. "Don't push the river."
C. Relax! Contrived effort spoils the Work.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows one who loses her ram-like strength
in the ease of her position. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Loses the goat with ease. No remorse. [The place is strong, it is in fact the place of the prince, but the nature of the line is yielding, hence the outer place does not correspond with the inner nature. Therefore the line easily rids itself of its obstinate disposition.]
Blofeld: He sacrifices a goat too lightly -- no regret! [I.e. he resorts too easily to force, which is not advisable.]
Liu: He carelessly loses the goat. No remorse. [One is not able to achieve one's plans; no benefit.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Losing the goat, tending-toward versatility. Without repenting. [Versatility, I: sudden and unpredictable change; mental mobility and openness; easy and light, not difficult and heavy; occurs in name of the I Ching.]
Shaughnessy: Losing sheep at Yi; there is no regret.
Cleary (1): Losing the goat in ease, let there be no regret. [Even if people can’t be vigorous, it would be fortunate if they opened their minds with flexible receptivity and borrowed knowledge from others to break through their own obstructions.]
Cleary (2): Losing the ram in ease, etc. [When one is flexible and balanced, there is no attitude of rambunctious strength, so there is no regret.]
Wu: A sheep is lost in the field, etc.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She loses her ram and hardly perceives it -- she is not in her proper place. Wilhelm/Baynes: Because the place is not the appropriate one. Blofeld: This is indicated by the line's unsuitable position. Ritsema/ Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): “The position is not appropriate” means that one is as though master of the world but does not have anything to do with it. Wu: Because the position is not proper.
Legge: Line five is magnetic in a central place and will therefore refrain from exerting her strength. Although the hexagram does not forbid the use of strength, it does concern itself with how strength should be properly controlled and directed. All that is said about her is that she will give no occasion for repentance. Being "out of place" only means that the position properly requires a dynamic line.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man has lost his alertness and strength because of the ease of his position.
Wing: You should now let go of an opinionated or stubborn attitude. It is no longer necessary to prove anything. The situation will progress with ease; therefore you do not need to use excessive force.
Anthony: We may give up pacts with ourself which require people to do certain things before we will be receptive to them. We need to allow ourself to be led, not setting up structured ideas of how things must happen. We should give up anger and feelings of retribution. Punishment must not be an end in itself.
Editor: None of the translations of this line convey exactly the same message in English. When that happens, beware: the statement can have a maddeningly koan-like range of meanings. In the positive sense, because line five occupies the central place there is the possibility that one understands the Mean and knows when to refrain from action: one "loses the goat (impetus to act) with ease." Alternately, the Blofeld, Liu and Ritsema/Karcher versions depict power which is misused or wasted. As a weak line in a strong place in a hexagram of strength and action, this can also refer to an impotent force with little power to affect the situation at hand. Since "no remorse" is involved, apparently no harm accrues.
Strength may be good or it may be evil. The same is true of weakness. The ideal is the Mean. Chou Tun-I
A. You can easily discard your compulsion to act.
B. An inferior force is eliminated from the situation.
C. Moderation prevents an excessive response.
D. When you are truly centered in the Work, aggressive action should be unnecessary.
Other titles: Gathering Together, Massing, The Symbol of Gathering into One, Assembling, Congregation, Gathering, Unity, Accord, Making Whole, Focusing, Marshalling One's Forces, Clustering, Finished
Judgment
Legge: When forces are gathering, the King goes to his ancestral temple. For successful progress, maintain firm correctness and see the great man. A large sacrifice brings good fortune -- proceed toward your destination.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Gathering Together . Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to see the great man. This brings success. Perseverance furthers. To bring great offerings creates good fortune. It furthers one to undertake something.
Blofeld: Gathering Together -- success! The King approaches the temple. It is advisable to see a great man, which will ensure success. Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. Great sacrifices are offered -- good fortune! [These were religious sacrifices, but they may be taken to mean that the time has come for us to make important sacrifices of another sort.] It is favorable to have in view a goal (or destination).
Liu:Gathering. Success. The king attends the temple. It is of benefit to see the great man; this leads to success. Continuance benefits. Offering a great sacrifice leads to good fortune. It benefits one to go somewhere.
Ritsema/Karcher:Clustering, Growing. The king imagines possessing a temple. Harvesting: visualizing Great People. Growing. Harvesting Trial. Availing-of the great: sacrificial-victims significant. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of collecting and assembling. It emphasizes that bringing people and things together through a common feeling or goal is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Finished: The king enters into the temple; beneficial to see the great man; receipt; beneficial to determine. Using the great animal offering is auspicious; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1): Gathering is developmental. The king comes to have a shrine. It is beneficial to see a great person; this is developmental. It is beneficial to be correct. It is good to make a great sacrifice. It is beneficial to go somewhere.
Cleary (2):Gathering is successful. The king goes to his shrine. It is beneficial to see a great person; this leads to success, etc.
Wu: Congregation indicates that the king comes to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to see the great man. There will be pervasion, if persevering. It will be auspicious to use big sacrificial animals in the offerings. It will be good to have undertakings.
The Image
Legge: A marsh above the earth -- the image of Contraction. The superior man, in accordance with this, assembles his weapons in readiness for unseen contingencies.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Over the earth, the lake: the image of Gathering Together. Thus the superior man renews his weapons in order to meet the unforeseen.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marshy lake rising above the earth. The Superior Man gathers together his weapons in order to provide against the unforeseen. [This is a time when foresight is required of us, too.]
Liu: The lake on the earth symbolizes Gathering. The superior man keeps his weapons prepared to meet the unexpected.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh with-respect-to earth. Clustering. A chun tzu uses eliminating arms to implement. A chun tzu uses warning, not precautions.
Cleary (1): Moisture rises onto the earth, gathering. Thus do superior people prepare weapons to guard against the unexpected. [When practitioners of the Tao get to where the five elements are assembled and have been returned to the source, when everything acquired is obedient to their will, if they do not know how to prevent danger and take perils into consideration, eventually what has been gathered will again disperse, and they will not be able to avoid the trouble of losing what has been gained… “Weapons” means the tools of wisdom, the work of silent operation of spiritual awareness. When the primordial has been congealed, it is not subject to injury by acquired conditioning, but it is still necessary to dissolve the influence of personal history before nature and life can be stabilized. If there is any remaining contamination, eventually conditioning will reassert itself and the primordial will again become fragmented. Therefore the work of guarding is indispensable.]
Wu: The marsh is above the earth; this is Congregation . Thus the jun zi causes the nation to be armed in preparation for contingencies.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Contraction shows massing for union through Cheerfulness and Obedience. The dynamic line is responded to in his ruling central place, hence the idea of union. With the utmost piety the king presents his offerings to the spirits in his ancestral temple. Union with the great man is effected through correctness. The law of heaven demands a sacrifice. Contemplation of the way forces are gathered shows us the way of heaven, earth and all of nature.
Legge:Contractionmeans collecting together, or things so collected. The hexagram deals with the union between the ruler and his ministers -- between high and low in the kingdom. This state is to be preserved through the influence of religion and the great man, who is a kind of philosopher king who meets the spirits of his ancestors in the temple. Whatever he does will succeed because he is correct and right, and his great sacrifices are in harmony with the times.
The two trigrams represent Docility and Cheerfulness. The dynamic fifth line has his proper magnetic correlate in line two -- which gives the idea of union. Ch'eng-tzu says that the ordinances of heaven are simply the natural and practical outcome of heavenly principle.
A marsh above the earth must be kept in by dykes -- so the Contraction must be preserved by precautionary measures, the chief of which is to be prepared to resist attack from without, and to quell internal rebellion.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Forces are assembling for integration -- focus inward, sacrifice your autonomy and allow the Self to guide the Work.
The Superior Man pulls himself together to face the unknown and preserve the Work. “Forewarned is forearmed.”
Psychologically, Contraction depicts a time when inner components of the psyche assemble for recombination into a new pattern. It is significant that this is the time when “the king goes to his ancestral temple.” That is, the governing intelligence turns toward the template or ideal image of the Work as it exists in its consummate state. (See commentary on hexagram number fifty-nine, Expansion, for further discussion of the symbolism of the ancestral temple.) If the gathering forces integrate in conformity with this archetype, the Work is thereby advanced.
He, therefore, who perceives himself to associate with God, will have himself the similitude of Him. And if he passes from himself as an image to the archetype, he will then have the end of his progression. Plotinus
In addition to being a gestalt of future perfection, the temple is the home of the ancestors: a karmic repository of all that has gone into the Work via the will and intent of former historical ego-personalities. This archetype of "the ancestors" is described by the Lakota shaman, Black Elk, in his Great Vision. Note that the "grandfathers and grandmothers" are present when the people are "walking in a sacred manner" -- i.e., conforming to the ideal archetypal pattern of the Work:
But I was not the last; for when I looked behind me there were ghosts of people like a trailing fog as far as I could see -- grandfathers of grandfathers and grandmothers of grandmothers without number. And over these a great Voice -- the Voice that was the South -- lived, and I could feel it silent. And as we went the Voice behind me said: "Behold a good nation walking in a sacred manner in a good land!"
The Ancestral Temple then, symbolizes the Work in progress as it exists outside of temporal awareness. At death the karmic complexes of the psyche, released from their spacetime ego-body, assume new configurations in hyperspace in accordance with the accomplishments of the just completed lifetime. Ideally, the ancestors and their heirs (choices and their consequences) within the Ancestral Temple undergo purification: this is what Individuation (the Work) is all about.
At the end of the dying process consciousness divides into the consciousness of one's parents and one’s children, and then it moves through these modalities, and then divides again. It's moving forward into the future through the people who come after you, and backward into the past through your ancestors. Terence McKenna --The Archaic Revival
In the multidimensional realms "beyond" our material world, time does not exist. In some way unimaginable to us, past, present and future are consolidated into an eternal Here and Now. Thus our choices in spacetime can have consequences in hyperspace which are inconceivable to us in the current situation. So if the Self (as manifested in the oracle) often seems to be tyrannically unreasonable, it is arguably because of the ego's dimensional myopia.
The Spirit ... may know the most violent love and hatred possible, for it can see the remote consequences of the most trivial acts of the living, provided those consequences are part of its future life. In trying to prevent them it may become one of those frustrators dreaded by certain spirit mediums. It cannot, however, without ... assistance ... affect life in any way except to delay its own rebirth. With that assistance it can so shape circumstances as to make possible the rebirth of a unique nature. W. B. Yeats --A Vision
Such conceptions of cause and effect seem irrational to ordinary awareness, yet quantum physicists hypothesize future events which affect the present as well as the past. The idea is not a new one:
Indeed, the hero of Hebrew myth is not only profoundly influenced by the deeds, words and thoughts of his forebears, and aware of his own profound influence on the fate of his descendants; he is equally influenced by the behavior of his descendants and influences that of his ancestors. Thus King Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Dan, and this sinful act sapped the strength of Abraham when he pursued his enemies into the same district a thousand years previously. Graves and Patai --Hebrew Myths
Should the ego's choices and their consequences not conform to the Self's intent, a rather cancerous growth is implied in which dynamic and magnetic forces are improperly consolidated -- in I Chingterms, dynamic and magnetic are mismatched. Through this "infidelity" of correlates the Work is thus adulterated and falls short of the archetypal ideal.
That the greatest effects come from the smallest causes has become patently clear not only in physics but in the field of psychological research as well. How often in the critical moments of life everything hangs on what appears to be a mere nothing! Jung -- The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales
Contraction is a compression inward toward a center. Psychologically, this can be regarded as an integration of complexes. Once the implosion completes itself, it is implied that the growth cycle reverses itself to expand away from the center. (Cf., hexagram number fifty-nine, Expansion, in which the ancestral temple is also mentioned.) The following hexagram, Pushing Upward,is the inverse of this one, and depicts a similar upward expansion of energy.
The archetypal themes displayed here are those of Solve et coagula, Implosion-Explosion, Contraction-Expansion, Black Hole-White Hole, Day and Night of Brahma, etc.