#gnostix1

Great possession, great success. Fully balanced in firm strength; civilized.

6 Balanced in firmness and flexibility. Great Heaven completes you.

5 Mutual regard: yourself in others, others in you. Growing strength.

4 Your greatest possess- ion: Strength and illumina- tion grow stronger still.

3 Noble actions are well received in heaven. Those without merit fail.

2 A great wagon at your service: balanced strength takes you far in the world.

1 Avoid the harmful and you shall be blameless. No fault in your struggle.

Fire over Heaven: the traditional title is “Great Possession” or “Possession in Great Measure” — as in “self-possession.” With equanimity toward all, accepting of what comes your way without resistance, dependable as the morning sun. Such possession can afford to be generous; the boundless abundance of Heaven within strengthens you.

Consider the prior hexagram, set in a world where the failure to read people correctly could prove fatal. Such a moment has now passed. You wax abundant, aligned with the ultimate, complete.

Such good fortune does not last. One must remain vigilant, prepared, expecting the unexpected. From a very old anonymous commentary on Line 5:

Well, face it: The Elder is where it’s at since Ralph Blum. It’s gonna take a couple generations to clear up the mess he made.

Yeah, it’s true, it’s just extra frustrating here since runes developed all the way through to the modern language and there are even museums and stuff with actually pretty good runic stuff in the gift shops. There’s a grave in the local cemetery from the early 20th century with accurate post-medieval runes (next to another for the same guy in Latin letters). They’ve even had articles on runes come out in major newspapers. But yeah, still most of the exposure to runes even with all of that comes from tourist shops and websites like this: http://futhark.is/ (this is barely more than an Icelandic translation of American/British blah crap).

Fire over Fire: A simple moral lesson — as fire clings to its source for nourishment, one must cling to the good. The various images of fire presented are always controlled uses, recalling the cow or ox, marvellous beasts whose strength is rendered useful through constant attention.

Richard and Hellmut Wilhelm (in Eight Lectures on the I Ching) suggest a deeper meaning — that of an entangling net — another strong image that logically follows from the received interpretations. Ill-considered actions and struggle only tightens one’s entanglement.

Only in the fourth line do we see a hint of uncontrolled fire, which flares up quickly and then dies.

On this cautionary note, the first “half” of the I Ching comes to a close. As noted elsewhere, a series that started with the most enduring of concepts and energies — Heaven and Earth — ends with the most transient: Water and Fire.

30 Clinging

Clinging to the good will transforms the great wide world. Care for docile things.

6 Capturing the ring- leader, the underlings set free. Transforming all.

5 Shedding tears of joy, releasing your past errors: free to move forward.

4 Haste makes the greatest waste. Bright fires burn quickest. Don’t set yourself ablaze.

3 Sundown – a time for caution. The young party as elders weep. Ill luck.

2 Golden heart of fire. Balanced and in harmony on the middle way.

25% bullshit. Compost needs air to work. Piling your organic garbage in a ditch, hole, pail, etc will result in stinky fossilized potato peels, not compost. Turn it every month or so, depending on the temperature.

elemental peaches?

Light over the Earth: Rich gifts come to true leaders; their light shines on all.

6 Advancing with horns: an unenlightened path. First correct your domain.

5 Freely advancing, fearless of loss or gain. Great joy will follow you.

4 A rodent’s advance: empty, out of place and time, inappropriate.

3 Advancing with peers, to everyone’s approval. Great upward progress.

2 Advancing in grief: good luck follows your efforts. Ancestors approve.

1 Advance is blocked; still you must remain upright. Find confidence. Succeed.

Fire over Earth presents an image of a peaceful sunrise and the beginning of a long and productive time. In the traditional description, a noble is presented with the gift of horses by the king, and permitted audience three times in a day. This suggests one who is advancing from vassal to trusted adviser.

The lines tell a somewhat different story, concerned more with the blockages -- both mental and physical -- to advancement. The ruling lines (2 and 5) indicate real advance, though not without resistance. The ram of Hexagram 34* appears again in Line 6, reminding us of the lesson of too much force.

That creature of line 4 is the source of much speculation, and is variously interpreted as a mouse or rat, a marmot, a hamster, etc. One credible historical analysis suggests a species of burrowing cockroach. In terms of image, a nervous backyard visitor comes to mind:

Hollow nuts Hollow tree Hollow life Who do you impress as you quiver in the dark Supercilious Squirrel?

« J’ai besoin de ton sourire contre le mien. »

:-)

The gov't case is not off to a good start... http://www.businessinsider.com/j20-trial-verdict-jury-acquits-inauguration-day-protesters-trump-2017-12