Another geopolitical Yi, this one using date and time – midnight on January 1st 2024 as the basis to derive the hexagrams. A brief and somewhat imaginative interpretation without extensive notes and textual references.
The Background Hexagram #6 Conflict: inner turbulence from flowing Water beneath Heaven’s Authority, those below in turmoil, those above too rigid. Something wrong with the dynamic. Also, that the problems stem from internal domestic issues rather than external.
The Primary Hexagram #30 Double Fire: given the context of the other five, this one suggests inflammation, flickering; also the identical bottom and top hexagram, with two firm lines in the middle and single firm lines at top and bottom, suggest polarity, be it bipolar confusion or multipolar world order.
Changing Line #4: Abruptly coming and going, flash in the pan: When there is only one changing line, some interpreters make this the most prominent jumping off point for the entire Reading. Here we see from one text that it is “the most vicious of the 384 judgments of the lines in the Yi Jing.” This colours the entire dynamic making the Primary #30, Double Fire, more dangerous, aggressive, destructive, all-consuming as only fire can be. At the same time, the Line Four itself sociopolitically refers to the Managerial-Ministerial level versus that of the Supreme Authority in Line 5 or Spiritual Realization in Line 6. So we have general instability or even ‘hell’ arising from the background of internal conflict involving especially the Managerial level. Many nowadays say that we no longer have Kings and Emperors, rather systems, and the world is increasingly run by such systems or what is sometimes called ‘the Managerial Class’. This Cast is suggesting there is a problem with that especially since:
Future Influence #9 Managerial Leadership: This Hexagram is ruled by the broken yin line in the fourth place with all other lines being yang. This accentuates the message from the changing line in the fourth place of the Primary #30. So what does all this problematic Managerial Class Inflammation from #30 and internal Conflict from #6 lead to?
The Derived Hexagram #22 Kayfabe: This is a somewhat playful interpretation of the Hexagram. Let us peer inside it a little: The lowest trigram is Fire, which of course is the dominant energy in #30 Double Fire. Fire denotes warmth, insight and clarity but we know we are in a more turbulent, flickering type situation here from the other hexagrams. Above the Fire trigram is Water – and indeed if the top and fifth line changed places, it would result in #63 which is Completion or Fruition, full integration which is Fire-Water-Fire-Water. Instead though, we have Thunder immediately above Water which denotes movement, change, impetus and above that ‘sealing the deal’ is Mountain with its sense of stopping or being blocked, stagnation so any change or momentum from the Thunder leads into the dead end of Mountain which blocks further passage. So we have Fire leading to Water above, which fights it, might even be putting it out and which provides a muddy or slippery platform for shock or change leading to stasis making the whole Hexagram somewhat useless – indeed Confucius said of this Hexagram that you ‘cannot decide serious matters in this way’. The traditional Image interpretation of this Hexagram is that of Flames at the foot of a mountain making all the bushes, trees and plants on its surface cast large, dancing shadows. One sees on the surface, therefore, in an inaccurate way, which also means one doesn’t see into the heart, the essence of the Mountain presiding over all which has some sense of stability and majesty, of ancestral wisdom and lineage. Fire itself is a little like this because it represents light of the Sun, which is that which is visible, so sometimes it also denotes staying on the surface and not seeing what is invisible within, which is more the case with Water. So this Hexagram is sometimes called Grace, Elegance but can also be called Makeup or Cosmetics. I chose Kayfabe which is a popular expression denoting that much of what happens in the public domain concerning politics and geopolitics is performative, deliberately misleading kabuki.
The Nuclear #28 Excess of Excess: Within the Primary #30’s process is #28 which is also symmetrical like #30 but with a different thrust. Here we have four dynamic yang lines bunched together in the middle sandwiched between single weak broken lines above and below – they cannot contain such energy and will give way. The traditional Image is that of a thick, heavy beam whose two ends cannot support the weight in the middle and so will crack and the entire edifice come crashing down. It could also denote a sense of explosion, that the energy within contains far too much pressure for the relatively thin container to hold within, so it gives way. In both cases there is a sense of a situation which cannot remain this way for much longer and this is the internal dynamic of the entire Reading.
Which is summed up succinctly in the Judgement as:
JUDGMENT
Background: blockage caused by inner turmoil, shifting sands
Predicament: Double Fire, multi or bi polar?
Changing Line: “So abruptly it comes, like burning, dying, being abandoned.”
Leadership: a managerial class on surface seemingly but
Actually all is a show, the world not as it seems whilst
Fundamentally: at Breaking Point, things cannot remain this way.
(so what else is new?)
As always, time will tell. The Wood Dragon Year using the traditional lunar calendar does not begin until February 9-10th. Dragons are the most powerful of all creatures in that symbology and Wood fuels Fire so denotes rising Yang which accords somewhat with this Double Fire #30 Primary. There could be many conflagrations and things being burned away in grand fashion, including War.
Traditionally I do two types of Lunar Calendar New Year readings: the first is based on Time and Date which can be calculated at any time as with this Reading, and the second is a cast of the coins which I prefer to do live on the day itself. So don’t be surprised if a do a Time-and-Date based Lunar New Year reading some time before February 9th.
Addendum: I went ahead and did the calculation for the Lunar New Year in my time zone which is also Central Time for the US. And guess what? The Same Primary Hexagram but a different changing line, #5 instead of #4 which has a more fortunate outlook, albeit with tears and wailing, and leads to #13 Fellowship or Union of Powers rather than #22 Kayfabe. I regard the Lunar Calendar as much more significant, but the fact that both the January 1st and February 9th at 16:59 Readings have the same Primary #30 is the sort of auspicious coincidence that Yi Readers such as myself always enjoy encountering.
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