Hexagram 18 – Mountain over Wind – 9/27-10/1

Ku – Work on What Has Been Spoiled (Decay)

Judgement – Integrity – Perfection .:. Codon Ring of Matter

The time is ripe to correct any corruption in our lives. There is a defect somewhere in our experience, whether it is in our own being, in a relationship, or in our society. Now is a time to examine where the defect lies, make the necessary changes to remove the decay, and then exert a concerted effort to make sure that the decay does not return.

The image of this hexagram is of Wind under the Mountain. The gentle steady Wind can’t reach all the way to the core of the still Mountain. Where air does not circulate, decay begins. This hexagram is an indication that decay has already taken place, but now is a time when it can be healed, wrongs can be righted, and our defects can be brought into Integrity. We are counseled to spend time in the stillness of the mountain, using gentle, penetrating introspection to discover and examine the exact nature of our inner corruption. Then make a concerted effort to remove the corruption at its root and watch vigilantly for any sign of its continued decay over time. By paying close steady attention before, during and after, we are able to work on what has been spoiled.

This hexagram rules the development of the IQ from ages 15-21 when the foundation of the mental body is formed. When the mind seeks perfection, it can lead to rarified states of awareness, but when it is obsessively fixated upon perfectionism, it often limits the growth and achievement possible. When we allow self Judgement to punish us too harshly for not achieving Perfection, it compromises our Integrity. The way forth is to look within, with a gentle, still mind to root out corruption and return our inner world to wholeness. As we then move back into the world, we make the effort to retain the Integrity of our wholeness in each breath, thought and action. The mind that projects its Judgement out onto others often compromises its own Integrity by clinging to Perfection as a goal. Perfection arises naturally as the eternal state of being, once we attend to what has been spoiled, and surrender to the perfect wholeness of our inner nature.

When looking at the hexagrams as binary numbers, there emerges a clear geometric order, which creates the calendar order, and self organizes into a 4x4x4 hypercube. The programming partners all connect through the central point of this cube. Each part of the cube has a relationship with the vortex in the heart of the transmission. There are eight hexagrams which touch this central point, and this 18th hexagram, along with its programing partner, the 17th hexagram are two of these keys.

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In this key the siddhi and shadow are very much embedded. The mind’s search for Perfection creates Judgement around all of the imperfect flaws of life. This is the nature of the mind, to see patterns, details and textures. At the shadow level the mind focuses on the imperfections. Something might be 99.9% perfect, but the focal point is the one tiny detail that is out of alignment. The goal of Perfection in this way casts a large shadow of Judgement, where the mind uses all of the imperfections it sees against others or against oneself. This mindset creates discontent, where nothing is perfect, everything could be better, and this builds discontent. Opinion and Judgement make a never ending spiral where we become consumed by the flaws of life.

Repressive – Inferiority

Reactive – Superiority

The same energy of seeking perfection with the mind is slowly transformed over time through the pathway of Integrity. Here instead of the mind picking apart oneself and the world at large in order to judge its flaws, the heart becomes the guide and seeks to perfect the flaws instead of creating opinions about them. We work on what has been spoiled in ourselves and instead of beating ourselves up, or pointing out the flaws of others, we take to heart the way of integrating our flaws. Integrity is an energy that must be earned, built daily over and over, as the heart moves us closer to the ideal of Perfection. So much of this comes from our parents. This key signifies the IQ, and the time of life from 15-21 when the development of our mental body takes place. Part of the process of developing the ego is to use our judgement to walk our own path, to see the flaws of the way things are and to make a change in the way we live to perfect the flaw. It is important for parents to allow for this journey that each child must make to disagree, judge and make their own decisions in integrity. If this freedom and support isn’t given or if its undermined, then instead of reaching true adulthood, the child is only able to pretend to be an adult. This is a parent’s final opportunity to empower the healthy incarnation of their child before their conditioning cycles close.

When we live a life with Integrity to the serve the whole, the shimmering Perfection of life is able to be seen, felt and become manifest. There is a surrendering of the drive of perfectionism into the eternal state of perfection itself. To truly see the Perfection in everything as it is, including what has been spoiled, is how we may bring Integrity to ourselves, our relationships, and the world.

Keys of the iChing .:. Jesse Chesnutt