It is never true that things are made of all light or all dark, all black or all white. Any living thing is a palpable mix of light and dark, activity and rest, fire and water, substance and space. Yet it is often true of we humans that we crave progress, evolution, advancement, as it were, in the eyes of those around us. Who among us wants to be known as the person who is sitting around doing nothing while malignant intent proliferates? Yet, how can we mixtures of substance and space be of service to other mixtures, how can we acknowledge the dark while standing in the light of day?
These are the types of questions that came forward this morning in our collective heart-mind inquiry. From our queries of ourselves and each other arose the following inquiry:
How can we stay open to ourselves and to our world in the midst of change, challenged as we are by personal flexibility and integrity as well as the desire to be of service to others?
We received Hexagram 35 - Jìn - Flourishing/Recognition/Progress changing to Hexagram 2 - Kūn - Earth/Field/The Receptive. Changing lines at Line 4 and Line 6.
This beautiful response depicts the moment where you are seen in your entirety in the bright light of daytime. Light is always accompanied by shadow, though not necessarily a big shadow, shadow nonetheless is always part of the picture. The invitation is to see yourself in all aspects and to be willing to see others in their fullness as well. This portends good fortune, ease and bright prospects, though the challenge comes in keeping sight of your strength, not allowing your weakness to dominate you at such a moment. You wear your best dress, your best suit for an audience with the sovereign, the dignitary, the teacher, but you do not shun your weakness, your doubt or hesitancy. You honor your doubt as a guest, a guest that must be served along with everyone else but not necessarily indulged or put in a position of power.
So, you are here in the full light of day, recognized and flourishing, because you have taken responsibility for your own progress, seeing your flaws and strengths equally, while continuing to be open to change. In this way, you can be of great service to others, bringing what you know are your strengths (in the metaphor of this Hexagram you could call your strengths your horses, your weaknesses the bags you saddle to the horse), accepting the baggage you have brought to the moment without letting it stop you from presenting yourself to whatever you meet. Somewhat counterintuitively accepting the baggage you carry, bringing your spot of darkness to your moment, is exactly the weight that maintains your integrity, lending a kind of grounding that allows you to move more in tune with others.
You know your own darkness when you see it in others. If you can receive what you see with curiosity and openness, then your own darkness teaches you how to be flexible, receptive and available to growth. In this reading, the choice points come at Line 4 and Line 6, likely the latter half of the week. In Line 4, you may find yourself confronted with a myriad of captivating details, little tasks that take your mind into corners, places you might feel stuck. At that moment, it may serve you to be open and receptive to what such a fixation might be showing you about your fear or doubt, allowing yourself to experience the challenge without shying away. Perhaps you have taken on more than you can hope to achieve in a given hour or a given day or a given week. Perhaps you have gotten stuck on an unimportant task. Either way, allowing in the message without demonizing yourself or others will allow you to continue to flourish.
In Line 6, you may find a moment later in the week where you are confronted with your own aggression, your desire to advance at all costs. Ambition will undermine your efforts to be of service. Aggression will only cause harm to both yourself and others. You may be justified in subduing your own aggression whether it be against yourself or against another, but it is important not to repress or suppress the sensation of your own aggression. Instead, you can use the energy to fortify your highest motivation, especially your desire to be of service, which will produce great benefit. It isn’t necessarily pleasant to us, especially to our ego, to notice where we have deep burdens of anger or grief, but we carry them anyway. Could we lessen the burden to our own path by putting any of it down? Could we see our present experience as the opportunity to do so?
This reading moves to Hexagram 2 through these changing lines. Hexagram 2 is made of all yin lines. Yin is the receptacle, the container for all that is. Yin is where all things are given birth, given substance. In our willingness to be guided by what shows up in this moment, we ourselves become the container for change, for new forms and new ways of being. Strangely and marvelously, the most momentous change occurs not through activity sometimes but through receptivity. You do not forfeit your strength in being receptive! In fact, by being receptive you increase your capacity for any future activity and you ensure that such activity will be accurately and appropriately placed in time and space. Watch carefully this week, as events unfold. Where are you able to simply receive? When is it time to speak or act? How can you hold your light and your dark with equanimity and grace?
The essential oil for the week is the beautiful base note of Neroli, made from the blossoms of orange trees. Neroli will support you in being fully receptive as well as strong in relating to yourself and your world. The scent will open your heart and connect you with your essence. Be ready to spend time with the almost euphoric sense of well-being that may arise. Be ready to embrace yourself, your own knowing, your own shimmering light, while diving deeply into the darkest recesses of your own ocean. Neroli is a precious essential oil, dearly priced, but absolutely worth the treat for your spirit. Just a mere drop, just an inhalation will do to bring you home to you.
P.S. Group Divination Sessions happen every Monday for the week at 9:30 a.m. Eastern U.S. This link is always good. Please don’t hesitate to join. For a fuller explanation of what I am up to with these group divinations, you can check out this post. Always feel free to share and to comment and thanks for reading!