46 Growing Upwards > 29 Down Deep < 54 Poor Relations
A cast using the usual method was performed after hearing the above terms in Dream. Another attempt assigning hexagrams by association is a work in progress.
The symbol of this gua is wood growing upward from the earth; thus Growing
Upward is the term adopted here.
The ideograph consists of two parts. The upper part is a rising sun. The Chinese say, “The brilliant sun is growing upward in the eastern sky.” The lower image is the ideograph sheng, which provides the sound. Traditionally, only this lower part is used for the name of this gua. Sheng was an ancient unit of measure for grain or cloth. Today, one sheng is approximately one liter.
This Cast deals with Dream. In this case a dream fragment, all of which in its entirety is simply a voice saying “Enslaved Heart.” Half-awake from that a second phrase came to mind: “Embattled Soul.” As I heard the words ‘enslaved heart’ I thought – still in Dream – that this had something to do with how our own tendencies to follow desire in unfortunate ways leads to our own self-imprisonment. After which thoughts I half awoke and then the phrase ’embattled soul’ popped up.
I wondered – as a Yi student these days – what the Yi might have to say about these Dream fragments. A couple of years ago I started having many of these Images, sometimes whilst awake but usually between the two states, about which I would throw the Yi. I did that 64 times, which seemed a good place to stop, soon after which I stopped experiencing such Images. It is a little like a door opened for a little while. One night I dreamed I saw a couple in a laboratory inside incubators, lying side by side. I couldn’t tell if they were awake or asleep. Soon after awakening, I cast the Yi and was working on the Reading when I heard a loud noise which cause me to jump, only a second or two after which a smaller but similar loud noise. I got up to investigate and to my surprise, and sadness, saw two dead birds lying side by side on the steps in front of our main door. Only after going back upstairs and finishing the Reading did I see any coincidence. (That’s how thick I am!). So did another Reading I think, including the birds. I shall find that Reading and (if it’s not too embarrassing!) share it later.
Meanwhile, this one keeps it simple. There are the words from Dream. And then there is the cast with the Hexagrams. And I handled the Reading with a light touch, not laboring mightily to relate the Dream-Words with the Cast except perhaps on the level of atmosphere. The Words perhaps provide a type of Heaven for the Reading, a mood let us say, or echo. When you go into a cathedral, things sound different and so they feel different. With this cast, the Dream Words create a type of echo effect in which the Hexagram 46 arises and reverberates. Enjoy.
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