Wondering about Hexagram 41 (DECREASING)


Barack Obama, in his inaugural address, drew on St. Paul's directive to "put away childish things." Obama spoke to the adult in all of us -- despite the festive ambience of the day. "Humanity, it's time to grow up," was a theme ...

I got to thinking about the 41st Hexagram, DECREASING. Implications of this hexagram include a distillation of something to its essence -- although 41 doesn't imply the thorough stripping away of Hexagram 23 or the pervasive sense of loss of Hexagram 18. Hex. 41 seems to augur a more gradual and subtle diminishment -- a time of frugality, careful weeding, conscious reduction, and "Less is more."

The question that sacrifice asks is: "What are you willing to give up to ensure your own unfolding, and the unfolding of what is holy in your life?"


Gregg Levoy, Callings

Image: by Sulamith Wulfing

Comments

Jan said…
Jaliya, that question is what I need right now. Such a hard, cold, incisive question.
Jaliya said…
Jan ... Be gentle with yourself as you respond to the question ... xo
Anonymous said…
You find the best images!
Jaliya said…
Thanks, Adele ... :-)

photo.net is a goldmine ... I could get lost there for *days*.
Sybil Archibald said…
Thank you for this post! I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Many texts advise us to let things go. I just wish they would tell us how!
Jaliya said…
Painter of Blue ... Welcome :-)

Yes ... So many wise souls say "Let go." It's almost a contradictory statement when we humans are creatures who cling ... we attach ... we bond. It seems that we're "better" at this than at relinquishment ... release ... opening our hands and offering something to Change and Life ...

And we're being called to let go all the time, it seems. Everything comes ... Everything rests with us for a second, a year, a lifetime ... Eventually there is a parting ...

I've come to understand sacrifice, in part, as "making something sacred." That makes the concept of sacrifice a little easier to swallow ... So often we tend to see sacrifice as a loss, a tearing-away, a death of some kind.

To make something sacred brings an awareness to our actions and choices that somehow brings us to acceptance of the inevitable comings and goings of Life ...

... and I think, too, that we let go in degrees, or in layers ... Even when a change or loss is sudden, there is a whole process of transition to move through ...

When I think of "unfolding" in the context of Gregg Levoy's words, I see a flower, opening petal by petal ...

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