Sunday, August 27, 2006

54 Gui Mei / The Marrying Maiden

At times the Book of Changes provide profound answers that need deep pondering, but knowing that I am simple minded, the Yi often answer my questions in a straight forward manner. No twists and turns.

To a previous question on the purchase of a share investment, the Yi had given Hexagram 8 Bi / Holding Together as the prognostication, and already mentioned in one of the ‘Do not chase after your horse’ entries, one did not invest in this particular share at the time. For two months, the share has hovered around the price at the time of asking. In line with the Judgment of Bi, one inquired of the Oracle once again if it was the right time to buy the shares.

The answer to my latest question came in the form of Gui Mei with second and third lines moving and changed the hexagram to Hexagram 55 Feng / Abundance.

Before we look into the prognostication, let me briefly run through what is happening or has happened to the particular company. The major shareholder or owner, a corporate, had tried to dispose of its investment in the company to an international suitor, several years ago, for a few billion ringgits. But the then Prime Minister did not accede to the sale. The company is currently being restructured and repackaged to make it more attractive to international suitors. (This forms part of my homework to gather relevant public information on a potential investment before investing.)

With this brief background on the potential investment, perhaps you can see why the answer from the Yi to my question is straight forward.

The Judgment:
The Marrying Maiden. Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further.

Second line:
A one-eyed man who is able to see. The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.

Third line:
The marrying maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.

In the judgment, the company is depicted as the Marrying Maiden. And the Yi advises not to undertake anything as nothing would further.

The commentary to the second line talks about a situation of a girl married to a man who has disappointed her. Here the girl is left behind in loneliness; the man of her choice either has become unfaithful or has died. Though the other eye is gone, she maintains her loyalty even in loneliness.
Think of the previous international suitor, a man of her choice. The girl could have done well under his guidance as they could have worked together. Both are of the same nature – in the same line of business.

The commentary to the third line says this:
A girl who is in a lowly position and finds no husband may, in some circumstances, still win shelter as a concubine.
Sometimes it is not right for a father - read the then Prime Minister - to interfere in his daughter’s marriage to a good suitor of her choice, just because of face. Otherwise she would not have come to this position and circumstance.

In conclusion, the Yi is saying, do not invest in the company’s shares as undertakings bring misfortune. She will not marry as a wife but as a concubine. Probably the company will become part of a big group of companies and will be neglected by the husband later.

In times like this, we have to wait for impending falls of its share price and buy the shares after the plunge and before the price flares up again – see the Judgment of Feng / Abundance.

The Judgment:
Abundance has success. The king attains abundance. Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday.

If we want to ensure the time is right to buy the shares after its price plunges, if at all, we can still ask the Yi then. But we can miss the boat too, if you know what I mean.

Hopefully with this simple and easy analysis, you can understand how one interprets a straight forward prognostication and the follow up actions required of a divination.

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