Gathering survivors
One finds a solution despite reduced forces. taoscopy.com
Duration32
Consistency brings endurance. Stay true to your path, create lasting habits, and cultivate patience for sustainable success.
↓ Line 1
Rushing into things without proper consideration leads to ongoing difficulties.
↓ Line 2
Balance and harmony in relationships or endeavors lead to the disappearance of regret.
↓ Line 5
Steadfastness is beneficial, but roles and expectations may affect outcomes differently for men and women.
↓ Revolution 49
Embrace transformation and change, recognizing the need for renewal. Be decisive and aware of timing, facilitating progress within yourself and your environment.
Original Readings
32 Duration
Other titles: Duration, The Symbol of Constancy, The Long Enduring, Constant, Persevering, Standing Fast, Continuity, Constancy in the Midst of Change, Holding Firm, "Get yourself into a fixed routine like the orbiting planets." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Consistency means successful progress without error through firm correctness. Movement in any direction is advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Duration. Success. No blame. Perseverance furthers. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Blofeld: The Long Enduring. Success and freedom from error! Righteous persistence brings reward. It is favorable to have in view some goal or destination.
Liu:Duration. Success. No blame. It benefits to continue. Going anywhere is advantageous.
Ritsema/Karcher:Persevering, Growing. Without fault. Harvesting Trial. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of continuity and endurance. It emphasizes that continuing on and renewing the way you are following is the adequate way to handle the situation. To be in accord with the time, you are told to persevere!]
Shaughnessy: Constancy: Receipt; there is no trouble; beneficial to determine; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1):Constancy is developmental. Impeccable. It is beneficial to be correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Cleary (2):Constancy comes through without fault, beneficial insofar as it is correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Wu: Constancy indicates pervasion. There will be no blame. It also indicates advantage of being persevering and having undertakings.
The Image
Legge: Thunder over wind -- the image of Consistency. The superior man stands firm and does not change his method of operation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder and wind: the image of Duration. Thus the superior man stands firm and does not change his direction.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder accompanied by wind. The Superior Man stands so firmly that he cannot be uprooted.
Liu: Thunder and wind symbolize Duration. The superior man stands firm without changing direction.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, wind, Persevering. A Chun tzu uses establishing, not versatility on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Thunder and wind are perpetual. Thus does the superior person stand without changing places.
Cleary (2): Thunder and wind are constant; so do developed people stand without changing place.
Wu: A combination of thunder and wind forms Constancy. Thus the jun zi establishes himself by not changing his post.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Consistency means long continuance. The dynamic trigram of Thunder is above, and the magnetic trigram of Wind is below. Docility and Motive Force are in sympathetic communication because their dynamic and magnetic lines all correspond. When the motive power is spent it will begin again -- hence movement in any direction is advantageous. The sun and moon are consistent in their illumination, and the four sequential seasons are consistent in their cycles of growth. The sages are consistent in their work and all under heaven are transformed. When we examine this consistent perseverance the natural tendencies of heaven and earth are revealed.
Legge: The subject of the hexagram is perseverance in what is right, or in continuously acting out the law of one's being. It is seen as a sequel to the previous hexagram,Initiative. As that figure deals with the correct relations
between husband and wife, so this figure treats of the continuous observance of their respective duties. Initiativeconsists of the trigrams symbolizing the youngest son and youngest daughter and shows how the attraction and influence between the sexes is strongest in youth. Consistency on the other hand, consists of the trigrams symbolizing the oldest son and oldest daughter. This couple is more staid. The wife occupies the lower place, and their relationship is characterized by her submission. Given two parties, a magnetic and a dynamic in correlation, if both consistently observe what is correct and natural (i.e., the magnetic submissive and the dynamic firm), then good fortune and progress may be predicted for their course.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The will to maintain the consistency of the Work assures progress in whatever direction it may take.
The Superior Man holds fast to the principles of the Work.
Wilhelm's title for this hexagram is Duration. I feel that the word Consistency best evokes the meaning of the figure. In an existence consisting of continuous change the only things that have duration are the principles upon which change is based. To adhere to these principles is to maintain consistency. Implicit here is a consistent balance of forces. Consistency in the Work means neither consistent action nor inaction, but an appropriate combination of the two principles as required by changing circumstances. The Confucian commentary alludes to this characteristic of the Work when it mentions the sun, moon and changing seasons as examples of forces which maintain their consistency within a context of continuous change.
Just as the moon at night reflects the light of the hidden sun, so in the Work the ego is always magnetic in relation to the dynamic Self. A moon that thought that it was the source of its light would be egregiously deluded, despite superficial appearances to the contrary; so too the ego that thinks that its powers come from anywhere but the Self.
Motives and standards of choice are not invented by the ego but are structured by the actualization of archetypal predispositions through personally acquired value standards. E. C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Note that all of the lines in the hexagram are generally unfavorable except two and five, and that when they both change places the hexagram becomes number thirty-one, Initiative. There is a profound lesson here which is best appreciated by meditating on the associations implied. The fact that each hexagram is the inverse of the other should not be forgotten.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject deeply desirous of long continuance. Even with firm correctness there will be evil; there will be no advantage in any way.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further.
Blofeld: To ensure his continuance, he digs a hole for himself. This sort of determination brings misfortune, for he is unable to go anywhere.
Liu: One seeks duration too insistently; to continue this brings misfortune. Nothing is of benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher: Diving Persevering, Trial: pitfall. Without direction: Harvesting.
Shaughnessy: Distant constancy; determination is inauspicious; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Deep constancy; fidelity brings misfortune. No benefit.
Cleary (2): In deep constancy, fidelity brings misfortune; there is no gain.
Wu: He seeks a lasting relationship from afar. Even though he is earnest, it will be foreboding and there is nothing to be gained.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The evil attached to the deep desire for long continuance arises from the deep seeking of it at the commencement of things. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The misfortune arises from wanting too much immediately at the outset. Blofeld: Misfortune caused by trying to achieve enduring results at the very beginning. Ritsema/Karcher: Beginning seeking depth indeed. Cleary (2): The misfortune … is from seeking depth to start with. Wu: Because he starts by seeking an intimate relationship.
Legge: Line one has a proper correlate in four, but between them are two dynamic lines, and it is itself magnetic. These conditions prevent her from receiving much help from line four. She should be quiet and not be anxious for action. The emphasis of what is said derives from her being the first line of the figure, at "the commencement of things."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset the man wants to endure. Whatever endures must be gradually matured. There is no advantage in precipitous action.
Wing: Do not attempt to wholly and quickly embrace a method or system that is new to you. Life-styles cannot be changed overnight. There are no shortcuts to reform. Such things are cultivated and matured in order to bring about the desired results.
Editor: The image depicts compulsive persistence in trying to force an issue or in seeking a premature synthesis. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number thirty-four, Great Power,implying that perhaps you are too impatient for results. The Work demands change, and often we long for some measure of stability which is inappropriate to the process taking place. Ritsema/Karcher translate “Without direction: Harvesting” as: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events." The second clause suggests that circumstances will improve if you just don't meddle with them.
A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. Abraham Lincoln
A. Don't push the river. You are trying too hard to succeed. Curb your impatience and allow the Work to go at its own pace. Let things develop naturally.
B. A premature synthesis. You are jumping to conclusions. The principles of the Work are your guide to action, not the superficial changes in your milieu.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows all occasion for repentance disappearing.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Remorse disappears.
Blofeld: Regret vanishes.
Liu: Remorse vanishes. [A stable situation is now possible.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Repenting extinguished.
Shaughnessy: Regret is gone.
Cleary (1): Regret disappears.
Wu: Regret disappears.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He can abide long in the due mean. Wilhelm/Baynes: It is permanently central. Blofeld: The line implies ability to remain upon the middle path. [I.e. To avoid extremes and cleave to the golden mean. This is suggested by the position of the line which is central to the lower trigram.] Ritsema/Karcher: Ability lasting, centering indeed. [The ideogram: field divided in two equal parts. Image of hexagram 61.]Cleary (2): One can remain balanced. Wu: (He) can remain in the central position for a long time.
Legge: Line two is dynamic, but in the place of a magnetic line. However, because of his central position he holds fast to the due mean.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man endures by keeping his force of character within the bounds of available power.
Wing: Apply just enough consistent force to effect the situation. Too much energy, or too little, will create chaos. Avoid extremes in your actions.
Editor: Line two is the dynamic correlate of the magnetic fifth line, and thus becomes the ruler of the hexagram. The meanings of both lines are derived from this switch of positions. (Ordinarily the fifth place is the seat of the ruler.) If both lines change, the hexagram becomes number thirty-one, Initiative, with which the figure is intimately connected, as Legge's notes point out. This suggests that consistency in the World of the Senses (domain of the ego) allows the initiative to originate from the World of Thought (the domain of the Self – the Causal Plane of Theosophy); which is to say that the ego's consistent perseverance is essential for the transformation of the psyche. The attitude which is often necessary to accomplish this is symbolized in the IX of Wands in the Tarot:
This card symbolizes those qualities that cause one to defend principles which may not be fully understood. And whether or not he understands what he is doing in its every aspect, he will do it as best he is able. F.D. Graves -- The Windows of Tarot
A. Your position is correct. Stand fast and preserve the Work.
B. Emanation from inner planes is facilitated by the ego’s skill in managing the Work.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows its subject continuously maintaining the virtue indicated by it. In a wife this will be fortunate; in a husband, evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Giving duration to one's character through perseverance. This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.
Blofeld: Making a virtue of marital constancy is a type of persistence which brings good fortune to women, but is harmful to men. [Here "constancy" is used in the limited sense of devotion to husband or wife and willingness to submit absolutely to his or her judgment.]
Liu: Firmly instilling duration in one's character is good fortune for a woman, but not for a man.
Ritsema/Karcher: Persevering one's actualizing-tao: Trial. Wife people: significant. The husband, the son: pitfall. [Actualize-tao: Ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos. Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]
Shaughnessy: Making constant his virtue; determination is auspicious for the wife, inauspicious for the husband.
Cleary(1): Constancy in virtue; this righteousness is good for a woman, bad for a man.
Cleary (2): The fidelity of constancy in virtue bodes well for a woman, bodes ill for a man.
Wu: The subject perseveres in principle. This is auspicious for a woman, but ominous for a man.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Such firm correctness in a wife will be fortunate -- it is hers to the end of life to follow with an unchanged mind. The husband must decide what is right, and lay down the rule accordingly -- for him to follow like a wife is evil. Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune for a woman, because she follows one man all her life. A man must hold to his duty; if he follows the woman, the results are bad. Blofeld: A woman follows one lord for the whole of her life, but men have to hold to their public duties. For them to subordinate themselves to women would bring shame upon them. Ritsema/ Karcher: Adhering-to the-one and-also completing indeed. Adhering-to the wife: pitfall indeed. Cleary (2): What bodes well in fidelity for a woman is consistency from start to finish. For a man doing his duty, to follow a woman bodes ill. Wu: She perseveres in playing her devoted role to the very end. Ominous for a man, because he should judge each issue on its merit and not follow the role of a woman.
Legge: The magnetic fifth line responds to the dynamic second, and may be supposed to represent a wife conscious of her weakness, and docilely submissive, which is correct. A husband, however, and a man generally, has to assert himself, and lay down the rule of what is right. From line five it appears that what is right will vary in different cases. The lesson of the hexagram is perseverance in what is right in each particular case.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is faithful to tradition and submits meekly. These are desirable virtues for a wife but not for a man of affairs. He should be flexible and assertive, according to the demands of duty and the tenor of the times.
Wing: When you are seeking earthly things, apply earthly methods. When your goals are lofty and ambitious, your methods must be inventive and daring. Learn to apply the appropriate kind of effort to achieve the effect you desire.
Editor: What appears to be outrageous sexism is seen to be a profound truth when interpreted symbolically. The wife is emotion, the husband reason, and the line examines the crucial division of labor between them. Reason must be flexible or it becomes petrified into dogma; emotion must remain firm and not give in to impulse or it becomes uncontrolled passion. The circumstances of each situation dictate their proper response. In the flux and flow of life, mindless adherence to "precedent" is the strategy of shysters and dogmatists.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Kahlil Gibran -- The Prophet
A. Control your emotions and allow reason to make the choices. Reason should at all times be flexible and allow itself to be guided by the requirements of the time. Emotion, on the other hand, must always maintain a firm adherence to the principles of moderation and restraint.
49 Revolution
Other titles: Revolution(s), Transformation, Skinning, The Bridle, The Symbol of Change, Molting, Leather, Skin, Molt, Cut Off, Changing, Radical Change, Overthrowing
Judgment
Legge: Metamorphosis is believed in only after it has been accomplished. Firm correctness abolishes regret and brings successful progress.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears.
Blofeld: Revolution. Not before the day of its completion will men have faith in it -- sublime success! Determination in a righteous course brings reward; regret vanishes! [Very often, this means renovation, as of character, etc. But it may also mean exactly what it says; Confucius, though he regarded loyalty to the ruler as one of the highest virtues, recognized that evil men forfeit their right to rule by their excesses, and it is probable that this notion antedates him by many centuries.]
Liu: Revolution. When the appropriate day comes, the people will believe in it. Great success. It is beneficial to continue. Remorse vanishes.
Ritsema/Karcher: Skinning; before-zenith sun, thereupon conforming. Spring Growing Harvesting Trial. Repenting extinguished. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of stripping away a protective cover. It emphasizes that radically changing and renewing the way you present yourself is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:The Bridle: on the si day then return; prime receipt; beneficial to determine; regret is gone.
Cleary (1): Inrevolution, the sun of the self is truth: This is creative, developmental, fruitful, and perfect. Regret vanishes. [In old texts when it says that the alchemical elixir is in people, but first they have to refine the self and wait for the proper time, this means to make a radical purge of all the pollution of past influences and not let any flaws remain in the heart.]
Cleary (2):Change is believed in on the day it is completed. It is very successful, beneficial if correct. Regret vanishes.
Wu: Reform indicates that revolution will become credible when the time is ripe. In this way, it is great and pervasive and advantageous to be persevering. Regret will disappear.
The Image
Legge: A fire in the marsh -- the image of Metamorphosis. The superior man synchronizes his astronomical calculations to clarify the times and seasons.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire in the lake: the image ofRevolution. Thus the superior man sets the calendar in order and makes the seasons clear.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire rising from a marshy lake. The Superior Man regulates the calendar and thus ensures that men are clear about times and seasons.
Liu: Within the lake, fire -- this symbolizes Revolution. The superior man makes a calendar, clearly arranging the seasons.
Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh center possessing fire. Skinning. A chun tzu uses regulating time-reckoning to brighten the seasons.
Cleary (1): There is fire in a lake, changing. Thus do superior people make a calendar and clarify the seasons.
Cleary (2): Fire in a lake – changing. Leaders make calendars to define the seasons.
Wu: There is fire below the marsh; this is Reform. Thus, the jun zi is inspired to develop a calendrical system for keeping time.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Metamorphosis, Water and Fire extinguish each other. When two daughters with opposing viewpoints live together, change is inevitable; but after the change is accomplished, faith is accorded to it: Clarity brings good cheer and progress through what is correct. When a transformation is properly accomplished, all occasion for regret disappears. Heaven and earth undergo their changes, and the four seasons complete their functions. The rulers of old transformed the state in accordance with the will of heaven and in response to the wishes of men. Great indeed is what takes place in a time of change.
Legge: The written character translated as Metamorphosis is used here in the sense of changing. Originally used for the skin of an animal or bird, it received the significance of changing at a very early time. The figure deals with the subject of changes which are called for in the state of the country. The necessity for change is recognized, and hints are given as to the spirit and manner in which they should be brought about.
The Judgment assumes that change is viewed by people generally with suspicion and dislike, and therefore should not be made hastily. [This can refer to inner complexes, habits, etc. – Ed.] When the necessity for change has been proven beforehand and subsequently carried out with firm correctness, then the issue will turn out satisfactorily.
The lower trigram is the symbol for Fire and the upper for Water. Water extinguishes fire, and fire dries up water. Each "changes" the other. The lower trigram is also the second daughter and the upper is the youngest daughter. In the scheme of the trigrams these two are seen to be mutually incompatible.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Hidden within its cocoon the caterpillar becomes a butterfly -- who would believe it until the Metamorphosis was complete?
The Superior Man recognizes that celestial sequences create changes only when they are due; he therefore acts in accordance with the requirements of the times.
The forty-ninth hexagram makes an analogy between the natural Metamorphosisof animal pelts and the proper way to regard radical changes in government. Lines one, five and six all refer to skin, and two, three and four refer to politics. The general idea is that radical transformations occur at their own natural pace -- they cannot be successfully forced any more than eggs can be made to hatch before their time. The Image makes this point in its reference to the celestial correlation of the seasons.
There is a time for everything,
A time for every occupation under heaven:
A time for giving birth,
A time for dying;
A time for planting,
A time for uprooting what has been planted (etc)...
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2
Once one assumes conscious responsibility for the Work, there comes a long and indefinite period in which one labors unceasingly without any visible results at all. Dream images and I Ching meditations will indicate that progress is being made, but the ego's life in spacetime consists of seemingly fruitless labor in the service of a transcendental ideal. This is a universal experience -- it happens to everyone who undertakes the Work. In the Western Mystery Tradition it is known as the Dark Night of the Soul. (See Hexagram Number-36 for further insights into this unavoidable phenomenon.)
The Personality undergoes a willful "death,” surrendering everything that it believes itself to be. Most difficult is that this total surrender of life, this initiatory sacrifice, must precede the experience of cosmic awareness. One is required to give up the totality of one's being, one's very life, in relative darkness, yet in the faith that there will be a resurrection into the Light. R. Wang -- The Qabalistic Tarot
Psychologically interpreted, Metamorphosis means that changes are taking place in the unconscious psyche, but don't expect them to manifest until their growth is complete. The ego must recognize this and persevere with the Work, even when "common sense" counsels otherwise. It is a period of probation and trial, and many there are who fail the test.
There is no short cut without impeding growth or setting the flow pattern of the Soul back, until each physical or psychological function has been correctly connected or developed ... Many aspirants do not perceive this law and become impatient and even lose faith when Providence seems to be holding back. Nothing occurs outside its time as it is part of a sequence in the great cosmic cycle that unfolds the Grand Design of Existence. Z.B.S. Halevi -- Kabbalah and Exodus
If there is any consolation in this terrible ordeal, it is that others have made the journey before you, and survived. Keep the faith that, in the imagery of this hexagram, the lower trigram of Clear Perception following the upper trigram of Cheerfulness will lead you through the most challenging of all transformations.
Where the issue of ultimate meaning is constellated, transformation will eventually occur, even though only by way of a great deal of suffering. E. C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest