Day 22,072 - I Ching: Earth/Sky -> Earth/Sky

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Day 22,072  - 2012 0103
Belov-ED Days - 4983
Saturday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 08: Peace, Advance, Unity, Greatness
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valleys, Canyons, Plains, Deserts, Hills)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Womb, Substance

08 --------  Sky (Planets, Stars, Birds)
16 --------  Head
32 --------  The Seeking, Creative, Intelligence, Strength, Power

changing towards

Hexagram 08: Peace, Advance, Unity, Greatness
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valleys, Canyons, Plains, Deserts, Hills)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Womb, Substance

08 --------  Sky (Planets, Stars, Birds)
16 --------  Head
32 --------  The Seeking, Creative, Intelligence, Strength, Power

Day 22,072 - Images from the I Ching: Earth [The Embracing] over Sky [The Seeking] (Hexagram 08 - Peace, Advance, Unity, Greatness) changing towards [888777] Earth [The Embracing] over Sky [The Seeking] (Hexagram 08 - Peace, Advance, Unity, Greatness) -- The two main influences that have presented themselves so far this month are the outer Earth and the inner Sky, in addition to stability (no changing lines within the images). In the first seven days, three days revealed no changing lines. Today, the outer/upper Earth appears with the lower/inner sky, with no changing lines. The outer Embracing Creation of Earth holds the superior position over the Seeking Creative energy of the Sky. They seek and embrace each other. They move in the direction of the other.

The Earth's natural relationship to space is beneath our feet to support us, feed us, give birth to us and to consume us. From the Earth we received all that we can hold, touch, see, taste and hear. Our senses are full of the Earth and we are drawn to explore it and define ourselves by and through it. Where we live, the food we eat, the shape of our bodies and the cultures we are born into are all derived and defined by the Earth from which they arose.

The Sky's natural relationship to space is above. It opens the gateway to the sun, the planets and the stars and it provides that path through which the birds soar. Our ideas, our intellect, our desire to seek understanding and to organize our concepts, systems and societies are all drawn from our ability to look up and see the celestial majesty of the universe, breathe the air that fills our lungs and feeds our brains and apply the light and fire from the sun to manifest our plans.

The Sky and Earth cannot exist without each other. They need each other and we are the by product of the interactions between them. But in this image of Earth over Sky, however, we see the most powerful and intimate presentation of of this relationship. The Earth, in moving downward towards its natural place beneath our feet, and the Sky,n moving upwards towards its natural place above and around us, are brought together within an embracing and seeking that manifests within the Earth all of life, of which we are a part.

For this reason, Earth over Sky is associated with harmony, love, balance, peace and ultimately greatness. Everything within our human cosmos emanates from this union of Earth and Sky, Yin and Yang, Embracing and Seeking. When we disrupt this harmony between the Earth and Sky we disrupt the very foundation of all the systems that sustain us. It is no wonder that we yearn so profoundly for "peace", "love" and "harmony". It is no wonder that we see so much beauty within the Earth and throughout the depths of the Sky.

We know that this balance does not always exist. We know that change will have a significant effect upon us. We know that we, ourselves, as individuals and collectively, are only a temporary presence in the long history and evolution of this relationship between the Earth and Sky and we know that it will continue long after we, as inidividuals and collectively, are gone. But this shouldn't be seen as a reason to belittle who we think we are or what we think we can do. Everything within the Earth/Sky cosmos has its role. Everything has its place and its moments of clarity, joy and pleasure. This is natural. And it is this that we all have the ability to experience. Those things we do to confuse, destroy and deprive others run counter to the way the Earth and Sky seek and embrace each other.

Perhaps if we spent more time working to share and yield to the natures of the Earth and Sky we would all experience more "clarity", "joy" and "pleasure" and see (percieve, understand) that this is our own truly natural state ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,068 - I Ching: Fire/Water[......] to Fire/Water

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Day 22,068  - 2012 0103
Belov-ED Days - 4979
Tuesday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 43: Incompletion, Before Ending, Not Yet Fulfilled, Beginnings
01 --------  Fire (Sun, Vision, Heat, Lightning, Hearth)
02 ---  ---  Eyes
04 --------  The Clinging Fire, Clarity, Divination, Understanding

08 ---  ---  Water (Floods, Fog, Mist, Rain, Steam)
16 --------  Ears
32 ---  ---  The Abyss, Danger, Nourishment, Confusion, Obscurity

changing towards

Hexagram 43: Incompletion, Before Ending, Not Yet Fulfilled, Beginnings
01 --------  Fire (Sun, Vision, Heat, Lightning, Hearth)
02 ---  ---  Eyes
04 --------  The Clinging, Clarity, Vision, Divination, Understanding

08 ---  ---  Water (Floods, Fog, Mist, Rain, Steam)
16 --------  Ears
32 ---  ---  The Abyss, Danger, Nourishment, Confusion, obscurity

Day 22,068 - Images from the I Ching: Fire [The Clinging] over Water [The Abyss] (Hexagram 43 - Incompletion, Before Ending, Not Yet Fulfilled, Beginnings) changing towards [......] Fire [The Clinging] over Water [The Abyss] (Hexagram 43 - Incompletion, Before Ending, Not Yet Fulfilled, Beginnings) -- Once again, for the second day in a row, there are no changes in the I Ching images revealed by the Universe from the stalks. In the first three days of 2012 there has only appeared one aging line. Today we see Fire over Water, a sign of incompletion. The Clarity of Fire, the Vision that we trust almost without question, is being threatened by the rising waters of the Abyss. Obscurity within us has the potential to eclipse the discernment that seems so tantalizingly close. This is a sign of yearning to reach the finish line. We can see the path we want, or need, to take. We know the steps we need to take. We have the skills to accomplish what we want. There is a temptation to simply take that final step without checking the context. The next leg of the journey is calling us and we are excited, despite the awareness that there are some details that need to be taken care of.

This is the feeling we have when we hear the dominant seventh chord in a musical sequence ... It feels unfinished and we feel cheated if we aren't able to move on to the resolving major chord. We are profoundly driven to complete each phase of our life and we know that we will remain off center as long as each phase is left undone. In the Image of Fire over Water, all of the lines are in their opposite, yin/yang positions. Everything feels off. Everything _wants_ to move to its natural position. The Yang lines want to be in the odd positions. The Yin lines want to be in the even positions. This tension could more quickly be resolved if there was even one aging line, but there are none. So the discomfort, the tension, the incompleness will linger, at least for the moment. In situations like this it seems prudent to disengage for a moment and allow our bodies and spirits to settle into a more centered state. Moving anywhere while off balance is always risky. It helps to take a breath and more deliberately look around and allow the incroaching fog to burn beneath a rising sun, allowing the fires of our vision and understanding to more approrpiately perceive the step that will land on that harmonizing spot.

Just because we are only a step away from where we want to be does not mean that the Universe is going to allow us to get there at all. We may be redirected to a more arduous path that requires significantly longer to reach that desired place. Or the barriers, the confusion or the complexity may simply remove the possiblity entirely. Often we are required to leave that final unresolved chord in that unfinished state. This may have a lasting impact that will endure to death, or it may allow resolution years later, when all of the pieces fall into place.

How many games have been lost in the final out or the final second. How many times have we come in second for a job, a promotion or a publication. Sometimes, the "almosts" in life are the most painful. There are times when I would rather miss a bus by three minutes than by 15 seconds. This is especially true when it is -20F degrees outside and waiting the fifteen or thirty minutes for the next bus (or worse) would be quite painful or uncomfortable. With my eyesight now I experience that "almostness" everytime I try to read a treebook. The characters are there. I can see that they are there, but they fuse into a dark smudge on the page, yearning to be resolved with the clarity of vision, but I can't do that, even by bringing it closer. Fortunately I have developed a number of tools that help me magnify or illuminate or increase contrast that helps, but the haze remains, even after I _see_ what is written.

The Waters of the Abyss are always nipping at us, from all directions. We can't get out of bed, walk across the house or get on a bus without being grazed by the ever-present Waters of the Abyss. We will never be free from them. They were there to greet us when we were born and they will be there to greet us and consume us when we die. Like the unresolved dominant seventh chord we are driven to keep one step ahead of the Abyss throughout our life. In a way, that _is_ life, this drive to stay above the mist, the fog, the steam, the floods that are continually clutching at us. It is when we stop moving, acting, planning and dodging that we succomb to the Abyss of Water and to life itself. In a way, it is the "unresolveness" of life that keeps us moving. We want to find that place where we are comfortable, safe, relaxed and joyful.

Keep the Fires of creativity going to avoid the mists ... There will always be another path, another peak, another river, another valley, another story. The waters will overrun us at some point, but until then, stoke the fire ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,067 - I Ching: Wind/Sky[......] to Wind/Sky

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Day 22,067  - 2012 0102
Belov-ED Days - 4978
Monday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 05: Clouds, Small Nurture, Little Accumulation
01 --------  Wind (Spirit, Breath, Trees, Wood, Forests, Inspiration)
02 --------  Thighs
04 ---  ---  The Penetrating Wind, Spirit, Greenworld

08 --------  Sky (Birds)
16 --------  Head
32 --------  The Creative Energy, Intelligence, Knowledge, Seeking

changing towards

Hexagram 05: Clouds, Small Nurture, Little Accumulation
01 --------  Wind (Breath, Spirit, Wood, Forest, Inspiration)
02 --------  Thighs
04 ---  ---  The Penetrating Wind, Spirituality, Inspiration, Knowledge

08 --------  Sky (Birds)
16 --------  Head
32 --------  The Arousal, Catalyst, Movement, Surprise, Action

Day 22,067 - Images from the I Ching: Wind [The Gentle] over Sky [The Creativity] (Hexagram 05 - Clouds, Small Nurture, Little Accumulation) changing towards [......] Wind [The Gentle] over Sky [The Creativity] (Hexagram 05 - Clouds, Small Nurture, Little Accumulation) -- Today's Wind over Sky appears without changes ... All lines are young ... It feels stable right now, as opposed to stagnant ... two sides of the no-changes context. After the events of this past year I am ready for a little bit of stability. This is an opportunity to prepare for the upheavals that are arriving ... For me, the increasing instability of the unemployement system makes each week an adventure ... The U.S. Congressional support of the two month extension to Unemployment gets me a bit closure to the 99 week limit, which is also drawing close ... Then it will be the "gapping" strategy to find financial resources to make it to 62 and Social Security retirement, or Disability, whichever comes first. ... Beyond that, it is always a good time to write down the stories and events that unfold within me and around me.

Overall, the in-between-ness of everything is an interesting challenge. Being too blind to get a job but not blind enough to be a legally disabled person makes me feel, in some ways, like I have wandered off of the path and that I am surrounded by thorn-bearing briar bushes and rough caneberries ... It is hard to know where to step and how quickly I need to make that step. Wind in the Sky brings to mind dry air, hot sun, blue skies and very little moisture. If there are clouds they are small and hold little promise for the nourishment of the greenworld ... This is a moment to appreciate the systems that are in place to help out in these circumstances. The forty years of work that I have accomplished have allowed me to accumulate some back up for the just-in-case. When there is little rain and the fresh food is becoming scarce, the roots, preserves and grains set aside in the cellar are suddenly appetitizing and appreciated.

One of my daughters from the Universe stopped by from the land of Powderhorn Park and we enjoyed conversation and reflection on astrology charts and systems of divination ... The rain may not be falling, and the available resources in storage may be dwindling, but it is always good to reflect on where we have been, where we are and what is the most effective way to step through the briar patch, the cane berries and the buckthorn to get to the river ... The wind blows above, the sun burns and the thorns never seem to miss the flesh, but there are (afterall) berries hiding in the branches ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,066 - I Ching: Earth/Earth [.....x] to Earth/Thunder

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Day 22,066  - 2012 0101
Belov-ED Days - 4977
Sunday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 64: Embracing, Nature, Earth, Creation, Responding
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Plains, Desert, Plateau, Womb)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

08 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Plains, Desert, Plateau, womb)
16 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
32 ---  ---X The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

changing towards

Hexagram 32: Returning, Repeating, Turning Back
01 ---  ---  Thunder (Lightning, Storms, Viper)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

08 ---  ---  Thunder (Lightning, Storms, Viper)
16 ---  ---  Feet
32 --------  The Arousal, Catalyst, Movement, Surprise, Action

Day 22,060 - Images from the I Ching: Earth [The Embracing] over Earth [The Embracing] (Hexagram 64 - Embracing, Nature, Earth, Creation, Responding) changing towards [.....x] Earth [The Embracing] over Thunder [The Arousing] (Hexagram 32 - Returning, Repeating, Turning Back ) -- Earth over Earth is a welcome image for me. It is an image of embracing, creation, substance and protection. With the Earth I feel safe, stable and centered. As a Leo I am all too familiar with Fire and all that comes with it: power, heat, clarity, vision and total consumption if energy through the use of that power. At the time of my birth Aquarius was rising, so I am familiar with the abyss that comes with Water. Last month (December 2011) I was surround by a lot of Fire, Water, Thunder and Wind, a stormy, agitated context. It was a month of struggle within me and around me. Challenges abounded and continue to press upon the horizon of this new year. I really needed the centering force of the Earth, and there it was: Earth. Within me and around me, Earth arose from the stalks and established a strong presence for this first day in the new year. It felt good to feel the Earth within my fingers, body, spirit and intellect.

The Venetian Star (la mia Stella di Venezia), my daughter from the Universe, greeted me from Italy. The Contessa awakened and requested her espresso. At 60, waking up each morning genuinely does become a joyful experience. To be surrounded by friends who welcome me as I am is a plus. To see Earth over Earth unfolding within the stalks is a particularly special way to start any day, not to mention the first day of the Year and the birth day of the Contessa. So I am brought to think of things that center me as I stand upon the Earth. I think of the substance that enters my consciousness as I touch that which surrounds me and find comfort that it all came from the Earth ... like me.

As my eyes lose their grip on the world, my fingers are revelling in their heightened significance, as are my ears, my tongue and my nostrils. The smells and touch and sounds and tastes of the Earth are everywhere and now there is very little vision to eclipse their potency, so I experience these new dimensions of the Earth with joy. I practice clicking my tongue when I walk down the hall or descend steps with my walking stick, seeking and embracing the "sense" of my location without vision ... My brain has discovered that there is so much to sample, even from the wind on my face that grazes the skin with subtle variance as it channels and skirts around buildings, trees, bus shelters and cars ... My nostrels seek the substance of that which inhabits the air. My tongue embraces the ensembles of flavors that greet me with each bite, sip, swig and swirl. In some ways, the images that form in my brain, behind the hazy curtain of my eyes are becoming richer, even visually (cognitively), because the brain adds the brilliant tapestry of hue and shade that the eyes are no longer capable of transmitting. My dreamscapes are becoming palpable.

It is more than a little ironic that our human world of vision saturation is really only a glossy pop-up page of experience, compared to what can flow in from the other senses. so the presence of Earth over Earth is welcome as I "look" ahead into this year where all of the paths opening up to me are extending towards the Earth's horizons through terrain that is completely unfamiliar. Wherever these paths lead I am fully aware that I will never fully understand them visually, directly. I will have to feel my way through these new landscapes in much the same way that I extend fingers, elbows, hands and hips to discern my way around the house.

There is one aging, changing line in this image of Earth over Earth, and that is in the most fundamental position: the first line, the innermost and significant of places. This changing line moves the inner Earth towards the inner Thunder, leaving the image of Earth over Thunder, an image of tremors within the Earth. The Earth moves in the presence of earthquakes and volcanos, nature's catalysts for change. So this first day of 2012 possesses the image of not only change, but also a turning point, for Earth over Thunder is the mid-point in the Fu Hsi sequence of the I Ching, step 32 in the 64 step sequence. It behaves in a manner similar to the Tarot's Wheel of Fortune. When the Wheel of Fortune spins it can change the course of many things in ways unexpected, so it is important to keep in mind that even though I may want things to be different than they are, there many ways that "different" may manifest in ways that are difficult.

I will use the image of the stabilizing Earth as a centering point of concentration as I prepare for the unfolding passages of this new year and look forward to travelling with those sharing the path with me ... let the thunder roll within the the depths of the Earth ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,065 - I Ching: Lake/Fire[..xx..] to Water/Thunder

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Day 22,065  - 2011 1231
Belov-ED Days - 4976
Saturday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 18: Revolution, Uprising, Renovation, Abolishing the Old
01 ---  ---  Lake (River, Lake, Well, Pond, sea, Ocean)
02 --------  Mouth
04 --------X The Joyful, Expression, Language, Gossip, Praise, Insults

08 --------X Fire (Sun, Lightning, Hearth)
16 ---  ---  Eyes
32 --------  The Clinging Fire, Clarity, Divination, Warmth, Burning

changing towards

Hexagram 30: Difficulty, Beginning
01 ---  ---  Lake (River, Pond, Sea, Ocean, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
02 --------  Mouth
04 ---  ---  The Joyfull, Expression, Language

08 ---  ---  Water (Fog, Mist, Rain, Floods, Haze)
16 --------  Ear
32 --------  The Abyss, Danger, Nourishment, Mystery

Day 22,060 - Images from the I Ching: Lake [The Joyful] over Fire [The Clarity] (Hexagram 18 - Revolution, Uprising, Renovation, Abolishing the Old) changing towards [..xx..] Water [The Abyss] over Thunder [The Arousing] (Hexagram 30 - Difficulty, Beginning) -- The Joyful Lake over the Clinging Fire is a recipe for turmoil ... Water can douse a Fire ... Fire can boil away Water ... They are opposites and equal in power and in their capacity to transform. This transformation can manifest itself in ways that are centering as wells as unsettling ... balance and unbalance ... comfort and discomfortable ... Without Water there would be no life that serves as the fuel for Fire ... Without Fire/Sun/Heat there would be no evaporation to fill clouds that release rain to nourish and sustain life ... The tension that arrives from this clash of opposing, but equal, forces is a revolutionary activity and it is through such dynamic powers that we encounter the most profound of changes.

This is the last day of this year ... Although the end and the beginning of a year are somewhat arbitrary, there is a very real point in which the Earth completes one rotation and begins another. We as humans have chosen the cycle of the Sun as our historical marker of time ... An interval we call a year ... In the same way we have chosen the Moon as a way to segment the Year ... Our languages, our bodies, our cities, our rituals and much of our personal behavior (and the Earth's behavior) are influenced by and calibrated with these two celestial entities. Water (the Moon) and Fire (the Sun) are the two mission critical elements in our life-sustaining ecosystems. Earth, Sky, Thunder, Wind, Mountain and Lake form the raw materials and contexts that Water and Fire act upon. Lakes (rivers, ponds, streams, seas, oceans, etcetera) contain and channel the force of Water and carve out the shape of everything thing we see. When we look across the Earth towards the horizon we are seeing the result of all this "revolution", "turmoil" and "imbalance" in our lives.

It is tempting to interpret such "change" and "disruption" as destructive, evil, catastrophic and the handiwork of some kind of evil/good dualism ... but I don't see the usefulness in this perspective ... To attribute an event we like as "good" implies that an event we don't like is "evil" ... Being human we want to believe that this "evil" and "good" activity is the byproduct of some action taken by some entity greater than us ... But if we look at all events in the Universe as simply an oscillation between balance and imbalance ... comfort and discomfort ... fruitful and unfruitful ... it is easier to look at all changes in the Universe as possessing both balance and imbalance ... depending on the context. A flood can be seen as destructive, but it is also nurturing and enriching to the soil, the Earth. Earthquakes and volcanoes can also be seen as destructive, but it is from this same activity within the Earth that we see the birth of Mountains. As a species, humans want to think that their work is "permanent" and "good" and think that anything that disrupts what they have created is "bad". But to the Universe we are hardly a spec in the sands of time or even a drop in the sea of life.

As we await the arrival of spring, now that the Sun(Fire) is rising once more, with the beginning of a new revolution it may be helpful to understand the origin of the word "revolution", with is simply a new beginning.

Within this image of Lake over Fire, there are two aging lines that will shift polarity ... This time they are both Yang/Seeking lines. One changing line takes the outer Lake in the direction of Water, the Abyss. The Other changing line shifts the Fire in the direction of Thunder ... This is Water over Thunder. It is the Abyss, danger and nourishment of outer Water over the Catalytic, Arousing force of the inner Thunder ... This image of Lake over Water moving in the direction of Water over Thunder is a most appripriate set of images for this transition from what _was_ to what _will be_ ... Revolution launches us into a new beginning, an encore year. We can celebrate this New Year because the Universe has allowed us to embark on it. The difficulty will be (as always) in the living of it. New paradigms. New Relationships. New skills. New words. New challenges. Not to mention maintaining all that is still there, unchanged.

For some reason, for me, I think that this coming year of adapting to decresing vision, problematic finances (no job), uncertain health care and many changes in how I procede with my "encore" life is somehow "worse" or more challenging than any year before. But a close inspection of my life would reveal that it has never been guaranteed that any particular year would be "balanced", "fruitful" or "enjoyable". So we find ourselves back in the mode of seeing the balance and imbalance that all of life flows through in the course of every year, every day, every second. We can't spend all of our time in the Past or we will fail to appreciate the present or prepare for the Future. We can't spend all of our time in the Present or we will forget the lessons of the Past as we Prepare for the Future. And we can't spend all of our time in the Future because the Future will depend on how well we have learned from the past and how we apply that learing in the Present.

So reflect on the year just passed, and all of the years before that. Celebrate the act of waking up and breathing this morning, in the Present. Then, breath deeply of the air that surrounds us and look towards the horizon where the Rain (Water) and Thunder are creating some serious havoc ... When the storm passes, there will be a freshness to the air (Sky) and a moist richness within the Earth that will fill our nostrils, frolic within our ears and inspire our souls ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,059 - Ching Reflections: Water over Lake[xx....]>>>Mountain over Lake

******************************************************
Day 22,059  - 2011 1225
Belov-ED Days - 4970
Sunday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 14: Restraint, Limitation, Restricting, Moderation
01 ---  ---X Water (Fog, Rain, Mist, Haze, Floods)
02 --------X Ears
04 ---  ---  The Abyss, Danger, Confusion

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, Expression, Language

changing towards

Hexagram 15: Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing
01 --------  Mountain (Cliff, Tower, Building)
02 ---  ---  Hand
04 ---  ---  The Keeping Still, Shelter, Barrier, Antiquity

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, The Expression, The Language

Day 22,059 - Images from the I Ching: Water [The Abyss] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 14 - Restraint, Limitation, Restricting, Moderation) changing towards [xx....] Mountain [The Keeping Still] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 15 - Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing) -- Water over Lake places the external Abyss over the internal joy. This is a context where our inner happiness, expression and language can be muffled, limited or drowned by the overwhelming presence of uncontrolled Water in the form of floods, rain, mists, fog and other confusing, dark mystical phenomena. For me, the imposed seriousness, the expectation for some kind of joy and the drive for fulfillment of some desire are all pressures that can destroy the genuine joy and happiness that may well be lying within that inner Lake.

I think it is important to focus on the joy that lies within and ignore the complexity of demands swirling around us. There is very little that I resent more than to be _told_ to do something that I would have otherwise done on my own. It is almost as if many want to claim the "joy" that they try to command out of us. The entire end-of-year madness is full of this kind of confusing powerplay from relatives, churches and the culture at large. This might be the best time for some personal time. Or if there are activities it may be important to _not_ feel like we need to be the life of the party. We all have joy needing to be express. Don't let the fog and confusion of Water destroy it.

I have often contemplated why Water in the cosmology of the I Ching is associated with the Ears, and then when I think about how we tend to complicate our lives when we try to take action (Thunder) or say something (Lake) in a dangerous or confusing context I realize that perhaps in times such as this it is better to sit back, be reflective and _listen_ (Ears). When confused and uncertain, observe and listen ... don't act!.

The two changing lines in this image of Water over Lake doesn't remove or even reduce the stress evident within these images, it actually sustains and perhaps even amplifies the stress, for the following image of Mountain over Lake highlights the potential for reduction, loss of energy and a decline of opportunity, or at least the potential for decreasing accomplishments. The great Mountain is being worn away by the depths of the Lake at its base. Even the Mountain needs to be aware of its own impermanence. However, as always, no one element in the Universe is everlasting, yet all elements in the Universe will be continually present forever, if in different form. The Mountain becomes topsoil from which life grows within the Earth and new Mountains will rise.

With aging, I am continually reminded of my own decline. In this time of economic stress, the abrupt ending of my career, the loss of my eyesight, and the loss of many relationships over the years I feel I have become intimately familiar with the Mountain dissolving, slipping, cascading into the depths of the Lake. The inevitability of it is palpable. I am continually, increasingly, drammatically aware that each and every word I write could be my last. This, of course, puts a great deal of pressure on each decision on which word to write, which person to visit, which step to make, which course to take. At times I yearn for that youthful indifference to the presence of time. In my youth I actually embraced time, wanting it to flow past at a feverish pace to get beyond wherever I was at the time. But now my Mountain doesn't seem so vast and longlasting.

So, does that mean that we should stop writing words, taking steps, making new friends, visiting old friends and thinking new thoughts that could lead to new projects? Whithin the Universe, there is no shortage of phenomena that last for only a pico second. There are species of animals that live for only a few hours. It occurs to me, that the real value of life is that we actually live it, for ourselves and all that is around us, regardless of how short or significant that life is.

An Italian journalist and writer Tiziano Terzani ( http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiziano_Terzani ), who died of cancer in 2004 and who I have come to appreciate with each passing second of my own life, continued to write with a flourish right up to the moment of his death. For many years he embraced many elements of eastern philosophy. In an interview, his son Folco Terzani was asked (about his father Tiziano) what was his father's greatest teaching. Folco said "That your life is yours, and it is up to you to live it. The rest is a side dish: you are alone." («La tua vita è tua, e sta a te farla. Il resto è contorno: tu sei solo.»)

I guess I have come to understand that until that last grain of soil within my Mountain dissolves in the waters of the Lake, I will continue to write, I will continue to fill the Caffettiera with coffee grounds and bring a hot cup to the Contessa and I continue to tap my way around street signs on the sidewalk ... il matto ...

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Day 22,058 - I Ching Reflections: Mountain over Lake[x…..]->Earth over Lake

Day 22,058  - 2011 1224
Belov-ED Days - 4969
Saturday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 15: Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing
01 --------X Mountain (Cliff, Building, Tower)
02 ---  ---  Hand
04 ---  ---  The Keeping Still, Barrier, Protection

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, Expression, Language

changing towards

Hexagram 16: Approach, Promotion, Approaching, The Forest
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Prairie, Desert)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Creation, Substance, Foundation

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, The Expression, The Language

Day 22,040 - Images from the I Ching: Mountain [The Keeping Still] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 15 - Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing) changing towards [x.....] Earth [The Creation] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 16 - Approach, Promotion, Approaching) -- Mountain over Lake is an image of greatness, or success, or that which is considered "permanent" under stress. Its strength is being drained by the depths of Lake. On December 24 we are all brought into a time of reflection, regardless of whether the images are that of the Solstice, with the sun's three day journey into death and resurrection, or the symbolic start of the historical/mythical journey of Jesus. It is the beginning of winter in the northern Hemisphere and the time of darkness, loss of light and often depression. Whatever we each thought 2011 was going to be, we are brought into thoughts about what it, in fact, became.

Rarely is a year, in the end, exactly what we expected, so we need to take stock of how we feel about what actually happened and learn from it. There is always something that we can hopefully apply in the coming year. But we can't do that unless we have some sense of what adjustments could be made, need to be made or that we would like to make.

I started the year realizing that I was probably not going to have another job as I had known it in the past. My forty one years of work (from 1969) starting to shift dramatically. Survival was going to require some new strategies with my eyesight significantly weaker. But at this time last year, I wasn't totally convinced that my career as a software developer was completely over. I still held out some hope that I could perhaps do something with software professionally. But my post-surgery hopes of at least a vision profile as good as before the cataract has pretty much disappeared. Now I have to spend a significant amount of time learning how to accomplish what I want and need to do with vision that does not provide the accuity needed to do what I have been doing for thirty five years, that is, writing software.

I have found that I can still do some programming, design ebooks, publish ebooks and write (but at a speed significantly reduced) with the help of many tools (epaper devices such as the Kindle, in particular). So the mountain of skills that I have accumulated over the past forty years has started to collapse with my vision into the depths of my glaucoma Lake. It is from the depths of this Lake that I will need to rise up into some new reality. I had no idea how dependent we are on our vision for most of what we do. The new pathways with compromised vision are significantly different and require new attention, new skills, new energy and new strategies. This was a very different year than the year I expected and I am turning to the new with a cautious optimism that I am moving in a useful direction, as long as I can avoid running into too many sign posts or stepping in front of a car.

I remind myself that a Mountain can be seen as a protection as well as a Barrier. There is still the mountain of my creativity and the agility of the rest of my body which is starting to step up and compensate for the loss of my eyesight, and my creativity will be central to my efforts in writing. So working from home, writing, digital publishing and ebook design will become my focus for this year. I like to think that although there will always be mountains, there will also be passes through those mountains.

Within the Mountain over Lake image of the I Ching, there is one changing line, in the sixth position, which will move the image to Earth over Lake. This brings to mind the image of an underground Lake breaking the surface of the Earth, becoming visible, accessible and nourishing. I like to think that this new reality of my unvision is erupting into new flows of creative and productive energy in this time of Solstice, Advent and a new Year. I do indeed plan to drink from this new Mountain-over-Lake spring ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com