No. 9, The Taming Power of the Small ,   Line 6:

"The rain comes, there is rest.
This is due to the lasting effect of character.
Perseverance brings the woman into danger.
The moon is nearly full.
If the superior man persists,
Misfortune comes."

    Where do we go from here, then?   Our future reading gives us some direction, and we'll look at that tomorrow.

 No. 9, The Taming Power of the Small ,   Line 5:

"If you are sincere and loyally attached,
You are rich in your neighbor."

No. 9, The Taming Power of the Small ,   Line 1:

"Return to the way.
How could there be blame in this?
Good fortune."

No. 58, The Joyous 

The Joyous. Success.
Perseverance is favorable.

The Image:

Lakes resting, one on the other:
The image of the Joyous.
Thus the superior man joins with his friends
For discussion and practice.

 No. 28, Preponderance of the Great,    Line 3:

"The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.
Misfortune."

     This line is a restatement of the main message, only in this specific advice, the outcome is "misfortune" rather than "success."

    Traditional interpretations say this line "indicates a type of man who . . .  insists on pushing ahead.  He accepts no advice from others, and therefore they in turn are not willing to lend him support.  . . .  Because of this the burden grows, until the structure of things bends or breaks. Plunging willfully ahead in times of danger only hastens the catastrophe."

    Does the name George W. Bush spring to mind?  How about Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson?

    There is a ray of hope contained in the future reading.  We'll look at that tomorrow.

From No. 28, Preponderance of the Great,    Line 1:

"To spread white rushes underneath.
No blame."

     A fundamental change needs to be made, and it needs to be made as soon as possible.  Line 1 tells us that it needs to be made very carefully. 

    Rushes were spread on the floor by the ancient Chinese so that objects would be cushioned when they were moved. Planning, in detail, is called for before significant changes are made.

    This line may raise more questions than it answers. Our question was about the state of the U.S. economy, and we were told that it is near the breaking point (no offense to the Yi, but I don't think you really have to be the world's oldest system of divination to come up with that answer). We were also told, however, that we must be prepared to stand alone, and remain undaunted.

    However, at a time when the bottom has already dropped out, I'm in a quandary as to what "planning" one can do.  At least the Yi assures us that there is "no blame" in making whatever changes we need to make.

    We'll look to Line 3 tomorrow for more specific advice.

No. 28, Preponderance of the Great:

"Preponderance of the Great.
The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.
It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Success."

The Image:

"The lake rises above the trees:
The Image of Preponderance of the Great.
Thus the superior man, when he stands alone,
Is unconcerned,
And if he has to renounce the world,
He is undaunted."

    The Yi's answer is clear:  The situation is at a breaking point.  A fundamental change needs to be made, and it needs to be made as soon as possible.

    For the immediate future, we, as individuals, have little or no control over the larger forces at work. All we can do, as the Image suggests, is decide on the course of action that is best for us, personally, and follow it. If the rest of the world doesn't like it, that's too bad. 

    We must remain "undaunted."
...........................

    We had two changing lines, Lines 1 and 3, that give us some specific advice, and we'll look at Line 1 tomorrow. 

No.. 39, Obstruction:

"Obstruction. The southwest furthers.
The northeast does not further.
It furthers one to see the great man.
Perseverance brings good fortune."

The Image:

"Water on the mountain:
The image of obstruction.
Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself
And molds his character.."

    The future holds an Obstruction for our questioner.  According to Anthony and Moog, "All obstructions are caused by a person's failure to heed warnings given by his commonsense against problematical elements present in a given situation."

    Here, she has been told by the Yi that her problem "fitting in" to her new situation as a college freshman is not that she is too shy, but that her own commonsense is keeping her from joining in on the partying lifestyle that seems to predominate.

     In discussing this reading and what it means to her, the Obstruction became obvious: She is clinging to the idea that she must be the one to change, and that she needs to conform to the lifestyle the others have adopted.

    The Yi's answer, however, is that she needs to distance herself from the peer pressure to party (the southwest is the region of retreat). She also needs to seek some advice, perhaps from a counselor, or an older friend who has survived the first year of college, and think "hang in there" rather than "I can't stand this."

    The last lines of The Image confirm that she needs to turn her focus away from winning the approval of others, and toward who she is and what she wants.

 Today's reading is for a correspondent who just started college and is miserable.  "Everybody here just wants to party and pass out," she says. "There's no one I can even talk to." She wants to stop being "so shy," and seeks the Yi's advice on "how to fit in." She threw the coins and received the hexagram Modesty, with one changing line, Line 5.

No.. 15, Modesty:

“Modesty creates success.

The superior man carries things through."

The Image:

"Within the earth, a mountain:

The image of Modesty.

Thus the superior man reduces that which is too much,

And augments that which is too little.

He weighs things and makes them equal."

    Modesty is one of the few hexagrams in the I Ching that has a favorable meaning for every line. Modesty is considered by the Yi to be a most fundamental virtue.

    Receiving this hexagram in answer to her question means that, rather than trying to fit herself in with the actions of others, she needs to recognize and appreciate her "superior" traits, namely, her natural modesty, which she is incorrectly viewing now as shyness.

    Modesty is the virtue connected with a person's commonsense, according to Anthony and Moog. They see commonsense as ". . .. a person's original inner 'program' that is fully adequate to run the personality. [It] needs no reasons to prove its validity. Validating one's feelings is the meaning of 'Modesty creates success.' "

    In other words, she is absolutely right not to be "fitting in,"  and it is her own commonsense that is telling her to stay away from this lifestyle.

    She is advised to adopt an outlook that mirrors the image of the hexagram:  The gentle, receptive Earth, being lifted up by the strength and stillness of the Mountain. She needs to remove her focus from all the loud party-ers, and look past them for the others  -  like herself  -  who are modest and self-contained. By remaining open and receptive to these souls, she will find the connections she seeks.

    The Yi has one interesting piece of specific advice for her on how to do this. We'll look at Line 5 tomorrow.

    Stop  -  right now.  Don't continue, in an attempt to "win," because you are "right."   All it will get you is misfortune.

    It may be that the conflict is an inner one - you have two distinctly different paths you could follow, and you can't commit to either one. Your thinking constantly switches from one to the other:  "I should . . . ; but if I do that  . . . " 

    Bring a "cautious halt" to your thinking, and disengage from this problem for now. Perhaps a reading in the coming days will guide you in an altogether new direction.

..........

    Tomorrow we'll look at a reading for a correspondent whose shyness is making her new life at college very difficult.