Navigate life's unexpected commitments with grace, transforming challenges into beauty through authentic expression.
From
54
The Marrying Maiden
To
22
Grace
One calculates one's conduct according to parameters that are very difficult to understand. taoscopy.com
The Marrying Maiden54
Proceed cautiously, recognizing limitations and external influences. Adapt to circumstances with humility and patience, but remain aware of your own path and intentions.
↓ Line 2
Even with partial vision, one can see clearly. Perseverance in solitude can lead to progress.
↓ Line 3
Accepting a lower status can lead to a form of union, but it may not be fulfilling.
↓ Line 4
Patience is required. Delays may lead to a more appropriate union.
↓ Line 6
Efforts are in vain when the essential elements are missing. Actions may not lead to desired outcomes.
↓ 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.
Other titles: The Marrying Maiden, The Symbol of the Marriage of the Younger Sister, Marriageable Maiden, The Marrying Girl, Subordinate, The Second Wife, Converting Maidenhood, Returning maiden, Making a young girl marry, Marrying a young girl, Marrying a Maiden, Unilateral Action, Impropriety, Improper Advances, "Deals with life and death, sex and birth. It contains a warning about a person or situation. It deals essentially with discrimination. The first step on the Path without which we are useless." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Propriety indicates that action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Marrying Maiden. Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further.
Blofeld:The Marriageable Maiden. Advance brings misfortune. No goal (or destination) is now favorable.
Liu: The Marrying Girl. Undertaking leads to misfortune. Nothing benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Converting Maidenhood, chastising: pitfall. Without direction: Harvesting. [Without direction: Harvesting: ... In order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.] [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the changing status of someone who cannot control their circumstances. It emphasizes that finding a real field of activity through accepting this imposition is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Returning maiden: To be upright is inauspicious; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Making a young girl marry: To go on will lead to misfortune; no profit is gained.
Cleary (2):Marrying a young girl. To go on an expedition leads to misfortune, with nothing gained.
Wu: Marrying a Maiden indicates that it will be foreboding to make moves. There is nothing to be gained.
The Image
Legge: The waters of a Marsh with Thunder over it form the hexagram of Propriety. The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief that may be done at the beginning.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder over the lake: the image of The Marrying Maiden. Thus the superior man understands the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder over a pool. The Superior Man knows that, to achieve an enduring end, he must be aware of his mistakes at the beginning.
Liu: Thunder over the lake symbolizes the Marrying Girl. The superior man knows the cause of error, and persists in his virtue to the end.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh possessing thunder. Converting Maidenhood. A chun tzu uses perpetually completing to know the cracked.
Cleary (1): There is thunder above a lake, making a young girl marry. Thus superior people persist to the end and know what is wrong.
Cleary (2): Thunder over a lake – Marrying a young girl. Developed people consider lasting results and know what is wrong. [The way developed people handle things is that before they take the time to ask how to start something, they first consider lasting results. If they think of lasting results, they know what is wrong with acting prematurely, like marrying an immature girl. If you understand the meaning of this, you can apply it to government and to contemplating mind as well.]
Wu: There is thunder above the marsh; this is Marrying a Maiden. Thus, the jun zi in the pursuit of lasting excellence realizes the flaws and corrects them.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In the marriage of a young bride the proper relationship between heaven and earth is seen. Nothing could grow or flourish if heaven and earth did not unite. The marriage of a young bride is therefore both the commencement and goal of humanity. But here the desire of pleasure employs movement to attain union. This action will be evil because the lines are in inappropriate places, and the magnetic three and five are mounted on dynamic lines.
Legge: The Chinese phrase for this hexagram might be equivalent to the English "giving in marriage,” but there are some special meanings in this case which must be understood. The Judgment gives a bad auspice because the trigram of the Youngest Daughter is beneath the trigram of the Eldest Son. Since the action of the hexagram begins with the lowest trigram, we have two violations of propriety. First, the marriage is initiated by the woman and her friends. She goes unilaterally to her future home instead of the bridegroom coming to fetch her. Second, the parties are unequally matched -- there is too great a disparity in their ages. In addition, all the lines in the hexagram except the top and the bottom are in places inappropriate for them. Some commentators insist that the symbol of the contracting of a marriage in this hexagram sets forth some principles which should obtain in the relation between a ruler and his ministers.
The growth of things in nature from the interaction of heaven and earth is analogous to the increase of mankind through the interaction between male and female in marriage. The K'ang-hsi editors reconcile this good auspice with the unfavorable Judgment by saying: "The interaction of the yin and yang cannot be dispensed with, but we ought to be careful about it in the beginning in order to prevent mischief in the end.” The error here is that the desire for the marriage originated with the lady, and that she is heedless of the disparity in their ages.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Propriety means that unilateral action is inappropriate.
The Superior Man understands that the Work is guided from within, and that choices which ignore this truth can only retard its progress. (Present actions originate future consequences: pay heed to your choices.)
The traditional name for this hexagram is The Marrying Maiden -- a title which does not convey to modern western readers the subtlety of its symbolism. Blofeld says: "This hexagram is, on the whole, a most unfortunate omen ... We must not suppose that it deals only with marriage. What is said about the maiden symbolizes in some way or other what we may expect for ourselves within the context of our enquiry." The figure is certainly difficult, but "unfortunate" only if its import is resisted or denied: any portrayal of our situation which eliminates illusion (however painful the realization), must be regarded as a positive lesson.
Although the Confucian commentary describes this hexagram in terms of self-seeking aspiration, the wretched protagonist of the figure is not invariably culpable, and neither Judgment nor Image imply this. In addition to being at the very bottom of the social pecking order, the maiden is portrayed as half-blind, crippled and a "slave." Although condemned by the commentators for importuning a marriage that would raise her status, a close reading of the lines reveals that only the sixth place suggests possible impropriety -- the others all contain advice about how one of extremely low status should cope with restricted circumstances. The hexagram therefore can deal with either of two possible conditions: those involving Proprietyand those involving Making-do as an adaptation to adversity.
In the first instance, it is useful to compare the symbolism here with that of the preceding hexagram of Gradual Progress. There we see the organic progression of the Work allegorized as the proper marriage of a young woman. In this case, Gradual Progress has been turned upside down and the symbolism reversed: this young woman improperly pursues a marriage on her own initiative. Psychologically interpreted, it can be regarded as an image of the ego pushing its own agenda or desire for union.
The ego may move in directions and toward actions that are at variance with the intentions and standards of the Self ... The mature adult needs to recognize eventually his or her relative limitedness vis-à-vis the "Self- field" and the cosmic organism of which s/he is but a cell. We are subject to the ordering and growth intents of the entelechy of the whole. E. C. Whitmont -- The Alchemy of Healing
To recognize our `relative limitedness “vis-à-vis the Self-field” is to renounce our claim to unilateral action. Though the ego ardently desires a marriage with the Self, only the Self can initiate such a union. Chou Tun I, an early Neo-Confucian, makes an observation which illuminates Legge's Image:
"The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief that may be done at the beginning. The most important things in the world are tendencies. Tendencies may be strong or weak. If a tendency is extremely strong, it cannot be controlled. But it is possible to control it quickly if one realizes that it is strong. To control it requires effort. If one does not realize early enough, it will not be easy to apply effort.”
To receive this hexagram without changing lines can be an admonition to examine your motives and actions in the matter at hand. Where are you out of line? If no obvious impropriety is involved, it could also portray an essentially impotent predicament. At such times Ritsema/Karcher's synopsis bears repetition: "This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the changing status of someone who cannot control their circumstances. It emphasizes that finding a real field of activity through accepting this imposition is the adequate way to handle it.”
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare Propriety with hexagram number fifty-three, Gradual Progress, then compare them both with hexagram number thirty-one,Initiative. What are the similarities in their ideas? Now look at hexagrams number eleven, seventeen and twenty-two and observe the over-all philosophy which begins to emerge.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A one-eyed man who is able to see. The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.
Blofeld: The one-eyed man can see. Righteous persistence brings advantage to the recluse. [It is not unusual for a one-eyed man to see, more or less, or for a recluse to benefit from persistence in his meditations and devotions; neither of them symbolizes anything at all remarkable.]
Liu: A one-eyed man can see. It benefits the solitary man to keep quiet.
Shaughnessy: The blind are able to see; beneficial for a dark man to determine.
Cleary (1): The one-eyed can see. It is beneficial to be chaste as a hermit.
Wu: It is like looking with one injured eye. It is advantageous to having a recluse’s perseverance.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She has not changed from the constancy proper to a wife. Wilhelm/Baynes: The permanent law is not changed. Blofeld: As yet, no change occurs in the ordinary course of events. Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet transforming the rules indeed. Cleary (2): The benefit of the chastity of a hermit is not changing the norm. Wu: He has not yet deviated from his course.
Legge: Line two is dynamic in a magnetic place, and her correlate is magnetic in a dynamic place. Both, however, are central in their respective trigrams. With a weak correlate, line two can't do much in the discharge of her duties, but if she thinks only of her husband, like the widow who will die rather than marry again, such devotion will have its effect and reward. Though blind in one eye, she still manages to see -- devoted loyalty in an officer will compensate for many disadvantages.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Devoted loyalty on the part of the man will compensate for many weaknesses on the part of his associates as well.
Wing: The situation is disappointing. It is up to you, alone, to carry on the original vision. Such devotion and loyalty will ultimately bring progress.
Editor: The line does not lend itself to the usual gender designations used in this book. Blofeld's Confucian commentary: "As yet, no change occurs in the ordinary course of events” suggests that although we may not perceive or understand what is going on, we still haven't violated the Work. Legge's rendition of "the firm correctness of a solitary widow” implies virtuous abstinence -- not giving one's energy to any force that would compromise our integrity.
It is high time we realized that it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is much more needful to teach people the art of seeing. For it is obvious that far too many people are incapable of establishing a connection between the sacred figures and their own psyche: they cannot see to what extent the equivalent images are lying dormant in their own unconscious. In order to facilitate this inner vision we must first clear the way for the faculty of seeing. How this is to be done without psychology, that is, without making contact with the psyche, is, frankly, beyond my comprehension. Jung -- Psychology and Alchemy
A. The situation has yet to clarify -- go it alone until the way becomes clear.
B. Partial vision is better than none. Remain uncommitted, and do not depart from your accustomed routine.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows the young woman who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Marrying Maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.
Blofeld: From being a servant, the marriageable maiden becomes a concubine. [Again, a small advance is made, but nothing very satisfying is won.]
Liu: The marrying girl is to be a maidservant. She marries as a concubine.
Ritsema/Karcher:Converting Maidenhood: using hair-growing. Reversing Converting: using the junior-sister.
Shaughnessy:The returning maiden with consorts turns around and returns with younger sisters.
Cleary (1): When the bride-to-be seeks, it will be the little sister who is married instead.
Wu: The marrying of the young woman is being put on hold. Instead, her younger sister is married in her place.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is shown by the improprieties indicated in the line. Wilhelm/ Baynes: She is not yet in the appropriate place. Blofeld: Her former state is indicated by the unsuitable position of this line. Ritsema/Karcher: Not- yet appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): The bride-to-be who seeks is not right. Wu: Because her position is improper.
Legge: The third line is magnetic in a dynamic place at the top of the trigram of Frivolity. She is of so mean a character and such a slave of passion that no one will marry her. She returns and accepts the position of a concubine.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: It is preferable to be a concubine rather than a slave. The inferior person enters into situations incompatible with self-esteem, in pursuit of joys that cannot be attained legitimately.
Wing: To attain your desires, it will be necessary for you to compromise your Self.
Editor: There are at least two interpretations of this line: one portrays moving from an abject position (slavery) to accept a correct, albeit still subservient role. On the other hand, the line can suggest an attempt at a union or synthesis which is unstable or premature: The imbalances within the situation cause its dynamics to be re-adjusted at a lower level than desired. An inherent instability cannot be maintained no matter how much we want it to be otherwise.
Those who do not seek release from the bondage of the instinctive drives by the road of inner development remain the slaves of their own passionate desirousness or suffer the sterility resulting from its ruthless repression. In any time of crisis these persons have no power to curb their own barbaric reactions. M.E. Harding --Psychic Energy
A. An image of modestly improving one's position -- better a servant than a slave.
B. "You can't always get what you want” – accept the best alternative.
C. Don't compromise yourself.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows the young woman who is to be married off protracting the time. She may be late in being married, but the time will come.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Marrying Maiden draws out the allotted time. A late marriage comes in due course.
Blofeld: The maiden stays unwed beyond the proper time, but the day comes when she makes a late marriage.
Liu: The marrying girl postpones marriage. She will marry later, waiting for the right time.
Ritsema/Karcher: Converting Maidenhood overrunning the term. Procrastinating Converting possesses the season.
Shaughnessy: The returning maiden exceeds the appointed time, and tardily returns having time.
Cleary (1): When it is the wrong time for a girl to marry, she delays the marriage until the proper time.
Wu: The marrying of the young woman is postponed. A later date is anticipated.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: After waiting, the thing may be done all the better. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The state of mind that leads to drawing out of the allotted time indicates a desire to wait for something before going. Blofeld: Her firm desire to postpone her marriage indicates that we should wait before taking action. Ritsema/Karcher: Over-running the term's purpose. Possessing awaiting and-also moving indeed. Cleary (2): The purpose of putting off the marriage is to go at the right time. Wu: To wait for the right time.
Legge: Line four is dynamic, where it should be magnetic, but in the case of a female the indication is not bad. The subject of the line, however, is in no haste. She waits, and the good time will come. It is she who puts off the marriage, not the other way around.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The person does not throw her virtue away but waits. Her marriage will be all the better for it.
Wing: You are faced with a situation in which you must now refrain from action in order to await a more propitious time. It may appear that the world is passing you by as you wait, but your reward for maintaining your principles is on its way.
Editor: The line does not lend itself to the usual gender designations used in this book. The image is one of patient postponement, with assurance that the desired consequences will occur in the course of time. Wilhelm's rendition of "allotted time” suggests that fate is involved.
In the early community, the man who had learned to bide his time, for either revenge, barter, or any other objective, also had the advantage over the one who was compelled to act when the stimulus arose, without consideration of the consequences. Through having disciplined his own instincts such a man gained power over his more instinctively acting neighbors. The power of the medicine man rested largely on such self-control. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. Be patient -- a union comes in the course of time.
B. Wait and see. Don't commit yourself -- it will all make sense eventually.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without any blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it. The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows. Nothing that acts to further.
Blofeld: A woman holds a basket with nothing inside; a man stabs a sheep without drawing blood. No goal (or destination) is favorable now.
Liu: The woman's basket is empty. The man stabs the sheep, but no blood comes. Nothing beneficial.
Ritsema/Karcher: A woman receiving a basket without substance. A notable disemboweling a goat without blood. Without direction: Harvesting.[ Without direction: Harvesting, WU YU LI: no plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.]
Shaughnessy: The woman holds up the basket, there is no fruit, the man stabs the sheep, there is no blood; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): The woman receives a chest, but there is nothing in it. The man sacrifices a goat, but there is no blood. No benefit is gained.
Wu: The woman carries a basket that is bottomless; the man sacrifices a sheep that has no blood. There is nothing to be gained.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The basket is empty. Wilhelm/Baynes: The reason that the top line has no fruits is because it holds an empty basket. Blofeld: This top line implies absence of solid worth, hence the symbol of holding an empty basket. Ritsema/ Karcher: Six above, without substance. Receiving an empty basket indeed.
Cleary (2): The top (line) has no fulfillment. This is receiving an empty chest. Wu: The top line does not have anything substantial to offer, because she carries a bottomless basket.
Legge: The sixth line is magnetic at the top of the hexagram, and without a proper correlate, hence the unfortunate auspice. The marriage contract is broken, and union does not take place. The parties concerned offer sacrifices in the temple, but the woman's basket is empty and the man's effort is fruitless.
Cleary (2): When one does not accumulate virtue in life, then one has no spirit after death and cannot cause one’s descendants to flourish. Developed people, knowing what is wrong by thinking of the lasting results, see this at the outset.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man goes through superficial actions, such as offering an empty basket and a pre-slaughtered sheep to the gods, solely to preserve the form. This disregard for content bodes no good for lasting associations.
Wing: Are you just going through the motions? Is there content to the refined manner you present? If you are acting out of adherence to form, don't bother. Nothing will come of it.
Editor: Like everything else in the Book of Changes, this line can symbolize an enormous range of situations. At its most basic level, a union of opposites does not take place. Whether or not blame is involved depends upon the circumstances. Note that blame is not mentioned in the line itself.
Sacrifices, charities and penances performed without faith in the Supreme are nonpermanent. O son of Prtha, they are useless both in this life and in the next. Bhagavad-Gita 17: 28
A. An empty sacrifice, a fruitless offering, wasted effort.
B. A missed connection or fruitless union -- any further striving would be a waste of energy.
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?