Synchronicity of Annual Hexagram for 2005

I Ching aficionados would probably thank Carl Jung as well as Richard Wilhelm and James Legge for propagating the wisdom in the Book of Changes to the West. To bridge the understanding gap between the East and West, Jung had coined the term, ‘Synchronicity’ to better explain that Yi divination, if done properly, is much more than mere chance or coincidental. In his foreword to the Richard Wilhelm translation, Jung provided a few examples of Yi divinations to help explain how synchronicity worked. Perhaps, this entry may add on to the understanding of the term, synchronicity.

Since one has consulted the Yi this morning for an Annual Hexagram for 2006 which will be recorded in another entry, and not to be accused of having a selective memory or choosing to post a divination willy-nilly, one will publish the annual hexagram for 2005 obtained last February for all to see. The hexagram happened to be Gou / Coming to Meet with a moving top line which change this Hexagram 44 to Hexagram 28 Da Guo / Preponderance of the Great.

In the W/B translation the commentary starts with this prior warning:

“This hexagram indicates a situation in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below. Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male. It is an unfavorable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences.”

“The hexagram is linked with the fifth month [June-July], because at the summer solstice the principle of darkness gradually becomes ascendant again.”

The Judgment says: Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden.

“The inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power. If he were resisted from the first, he could never gain influence.”

“The time of Coming to Meet is important in still another way. Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance. When heaven and earth come to meet each other, all creatures prosper; when a prince and his official come to meet each other, the world is put in order. It is necessary for elements predestined to be joined and mutually dependent to come to meet one another halfway. But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.”

Under heaven, wind: The image of Coming to Meet.
Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands and proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.

Nine at the top means: He comes to meet with his horns. Humiliation. No blame.

“When a man has withdrawn from the world, its tumult often becomes unbearable to him. There are many people who in a noble pride hold themselves aloof from all that is low and rebuff it brusquely wherever it comes to meet them. Such persons are reproached for being proud and distant, but since active duties no longer hold them to the world, this does not greatly matter. They know how to bear the dislike of the masses with composure.”

The top line of Hexagram 44 is confirmed with this: The image of Preponderance of the Great. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted.

Comment:

Nothing of significance happened in 2005 except the possibility of these events.
One started this blog on March 26, to share experiences, provide a different perspective on ancient thoughts and to encourage the reading of ancient books, texts and classics.

The Tao Forum was officially closed on June 28, 2005. This forum was where one held discussions with likeminded fellows on Tao and Chinese history for a year or more.

Then there was a round of discourse in this blog, the Answers blog and Harmen’s blog on the Hexagram 44 Gou on the meaning of the powerful maiden and the inferior man in June 2005. (Refer June archives.)

Of course the closure of the forum forced a temporary ‘withdrawal from the world’ and the various discussions on Hexagram 44 could be called coincidental. But can we dismiss synchronicity since both these events happened to occur in June 2005, the month which my Annual Hexagram Gou represents?

A simple Yi divination which connects both time and space would amount to just this. And you can reread the line text and commentaries if you are still unsure of what the Yi had indicated to me.