Hexagram 16 – Thunder over Earth – 5/27-6/1
Yu – Enthusiasm
Indifference – Versatility – Mastery .:. Codon Ring of Prosperity
Thunder over Earth speaks of the bountiful response of nature when the sun shines on the Earth after a storm. This signals the time after spring when Thunderous rains return abundant growth to the Earth. There is an excitement for the inevitable thriving of the plants of spring even in the midst of a dark and Thunderous storm.
We can look forward with Enthusiasm to a bright future even in the storms of life.
There are two types of Enthusiasm, one destructive and the other positive. The first is an Enthusiasm based in the desires of the ego, recognition, power, or avoidance of adversity. This type of energy is short sighted and desperate. It leads inevitably to imbalance and misfortune.
The second type of Enthusiasm is rooted in the desire for inner balance and mastery. This type of Enthusiasm builds energy and charge by being in alignment with a higher purpose. By forgoing the desires of the ego and living in accordance with higher principles, a balanced and boundless energy is able to be tapped and maintained, lending great power and grace.
When times are good and effortless, people tend relax and enjoy the ease by loosening their rigor, which often leads to overindulgence and laziness. The energy of Thunder can awaken people who have gotten lost in their pursuit of pleasure, and remind them that pleasures are meant to be enjoyed in service to the whole, rather than wasting energy selfishly.
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When we lack the energy of Enthusiasm, Indifference is what we are left with. It occurs anytime love leaves the equation. Indifference makes us not human, moving through life filling needs dispassionately like a zombie movie. This energy is rooted in Laziness, the dilemma of the 16th shadow. We can’t muster the energy to look into our heart, but breakthroughs happen when we do. At the shadow level we are too lazy to awaken. We must gather our energy to overcome Inertia (9) and harness our time and follow our dreams. It takes a great amount of enthusiasm to start caring about life and others, but once a threshold has been reached, the energy flows abundantly.
Repressive – Gullible victims of propaganda, I have no power, shouldn’t even try, head in the sand.
Reactive – Self-Deluded obsession with systems and techniques, but walled off from their heart, susceptible to their own propaganda.
When the techniques one acquires in life are used without heart, they lead to Indifference and eventually trap us in more shadow. At the gift level the techniques are used in service of higher consciousness and lead to a great adaptability. There is an ability to access any skill directly from the morphogenetic field of all human endeavors. Each specific skill is connected to all other fields of study through the holographic nature of reality.
At the siddhic level, the skills accessed in the gift of Versatility become engrained over time into Mastery. Over a seven year cycle the skill becomes second nature, and is able to be expressed at the highest level. Here learning ceases. There are no more skills to be gained, only expressions of the Mastery inherent in the power of living a life engaged in service of the divine. Real Mastery is living a good life. In this siddhi, specialists flower into Polymaths, those who recognize the interconnection of all fields of study. They master the underlying forces of life and the universe, able to perfect whatever action they take by being attuned to the Unity living deep inside form.
Keys of the iChing .:. Jesse Chesnutt