B

12 Obstruction BI

B

Obstruction. Trial: Not advantageous for the Realizing Person.
The Great is going, the Small is coming.

The struggle you face can only be resolved by inner work. Use your power carefully. Don’t accept gifts. Stay in hiding. Beware of yielding to temptations that contain hidden agendas. Avoid making obvious mistakes by showing strength of character. Do not compromise principles.

The Image
The old character shows a closed mouth and a sprout cut off at the surface of the earth.

Circle of Meanings
Obstacles, blocked communication, disjunction; denied, refused, cut off, closed in, isolated, alienated, unable to advance; bad words, people of no use or worth; punishment, execution. Heart Theme: 53 Gradual Advance to the symbolic world.

 

Spirit Helpers
Heaven above Earth. Father and Mother, the Creator and the Midwife, cannot connect now. All real communication is cut off. Accept the obstruction and preserve your integrity. There is no way to take advantage of this situation. Do not impose your ideas. Stay hidden. Be careful and be patient. What is important is departing, along with your ability to realize your plans. The time that is coming is small and mean. You are being obstructed by people of little worth and petty aims. There is nothing advantageous in this situation. If you try to act, you will encounter resistance and misfortune. What you say will be rejected. You will be disapproved of and insulted. Change your idea of your position and your associates. Do not mingle. Avoid responsibility. If you stay hidden, you can draw benefits from the situation. This is a time of isolation and disconnection where you do not have a sphere of activity. This is not your fault. The people who run things now think only of their own advantage. For now, their way will endure.

Voice of the Mothers
You are blocked and isolated. You cannot trust the people you are working with. Retreat and protect your real power and virtue. Inner devotion now brings you the ability to connect your actions with the spirit. Deal with the corruption in your inner parental images (18). Do not focus on advancing in the outer world (53).

Obstruction is the dark half of the great ritual and sacrifice represented by 11 Pervading. It is the old that must be sacrificed, literally the fei-ren, the non-persons: victims, captives, prisoners and corrupt authorities who will be given to the Ancestor. This is the enclosure of winter when we find the seed of the new through sacrificing the old: “Heaven’s breath rises, Earth’s breath sinks down; shut and barred the passages, winter established.” As an oracular response it means No! Not so! Request denied! Stop! and represents bad words, bad faith, bad omens and a negative pronouncement, showing what is opposed to the current will of Heaven. It is the victim, the shadow, the Old King, the demon, whatever obstructs communication with the spirit and must be offered up, must die to make way for the new. For now, things are closed, obstructed; the expansion and development of Pervading is reversed. The action befitting this time for the Noble One or Realizing Person is withdrawal, silence, personal offering and atonement in preparation for the re-opening in spring.

Fall (12): Harvest the crop. Though you feel cut off, have no fear. The rough patch is ending. Search out your true friends.
Winter (45): Find the seed of the new by speaking out about where you are and what you want to do. Serve your highest ideals. Gather energy for a decisive new move.
Spring (17): Rouse new growth by using your experience. Do not resort to previous methods. Correct past mistakes and you can open the way.
Summer (25): Ripen the fruits by clarifying your purpose. Be open to the unexpected. Collect the energy and insight to start anew. Have no fear. Success is assured.

Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing Figure, a site of intense mediating activity that connects the primal powers to personal life and cultural change. It is a Gate to the stage of the Symbolic Life when we confront the problems of individual identity, sexuality and personal destiny or mission.

The Situation: a time of decline and standstill. You are surrounded by ill-intentioned people with selfish interests and secret designs.

Caring for Others: Things are not what they seem. Your current position is faulty. Progress is impossible. Do not get involved or make yourself a target. Do not be tempted to desert your principles. Make decisions personally. Assume deception or incompetence is the cause of mistakes that arise now. Avoid open confrontation.

Setting Intentions: Make no new plans and abandon old ones. Keep quiet until you know where you stand. Growth is stagnant. Resources are threatened. Secure your own position as best you can and work on gathering information for the future. Avoid making important decisions.

Communication and Interaction: Be inscrutable. Sharpen your intuition so you can distinguish the genuine from the fraudulent. Retain a clear position on your personal values.

Change from the Inside Out: Negative. Do not be caught in distorted images or calculated misdirection of family values.

  • Immediate Future: nothing you try will succeed.
  • Personal Development: withdraw from activity and nourish inner virtue.
  • Working within the Family: your ability to communicate is blocked.
  • Expanding the Circle: incompetence or deception caused the mistakes you confront.
  • Partnership: communication is blocked. Withdraw but keep the faith.

Pairing: Bringing Change to Life
Each hexagram is part of a Pair that that activates hidden paths of transformative energy through the interaction of the trigrams or Spirit Helpers, connecting phases of Inspiration and Realization. You are in the Realizing phase of this Pair.

The transformative process of the pair 11:12 Pervading and Obstruction develops the spirit to spread the wealth and the fortitude to stand by what you know is right.

Outer to Inner: The process shifts the Midwife trigram from the outer world of 11 to the inner world of 12, turning abstract faith in the processes of life into inner devotion.

Inner to Outer: This interiorisation shifts the Creator trigram from the inner world of 11 to the outer world of 12, turning inner perseverance into the ability to connect your words and actions with the spirit.

Transforming Lines

Mothering Change presents Transforming Lines as Steps of Change that show you where and how to focus your energy. Click on the links to connect with the Relating Figure generated by each line.

Inner World

Step 1 Beginnings: This return of the spirit attracts a new fate.
Pull up and weave the twisted thatch grass, each with its kind.
Trial: Wise Words! The Way opens.
Make an offering and you will succeed.
Retreat and join with others of like kind. The structure of things has collapsed. Do not act aggressively for this dissolution has fate behind it. You are in the right position to open the new time.  Disentangle yourself from old compulsions and accumulate the new spirit. An unexpected encounter will soon change the situation. Step out to meet the new destiny. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (25 Disentangling)

Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Lay out the offerings. Wise Words!
For Small People the Way is open. Great People are Obstructed.
Make an offering and you will succeed.
Make a hidden offering and accept that your great idea is obstructed. There is an omen of future happiness here that will gratify all your desires. Flee disputes and go to where you feel welcome. When the quarrels of the past disappear, new friends will seek you out. Step outside the norms. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (6 Arguing)

Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
Obstruction. Do not be the victim. Lay out the offerings.
Stop and examine yourself and your motives. Do the inner work. This is a time to retreat from past conflicts and use your connection to those who are your spiritual kin. If you act on your heart’s desire you can break through this entanglement. You are coupled with a creative force. (33 Retiring)

Outer World

Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
In Obstruction there is a mandate: An oriole in a plowed field.
Cultivate this in radiant satisfaction. This is not a mistake.
In the middle of a dark time you experience an inspiring insight. Cultivate it through withdrawal. Your present connections may look sweet, but no good can come of them. Let your grief at their failure release you. You face a difficult time but if you do not let go of your present situation the spirit cannot return. In the end you will spread light to all. Be open and provide what is needed. (20 Viewing)

Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
Relinquishing the Obstruction.
Wise Words! For the Great Person the Way opens.
It disappears! It disappears! Attach it to the bushy Mulberry Tree.
Withdraw to a peaceful place where you can focus on what is truly important. Those you identify with will disappear. Though you may feel hurt, you can rescue this situation with a burst of invigorating strength. The cause for sorrow will soon disappear. These goings and comings release the energy now bound up in the past. Have no cares. Gather energy for the decisive new move. (35 Flourishing)

Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
Subverting the Obstruction.
First bad! Then rejoicing.
The very thing causing you difficulties will soon become a cause to rejoice. The old time is ending. Take vigorous action to find who you really belong with. Let your tears flow and open your heart anew. This will release you from the past and make the new connections. Step out to meet the new spirit. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (45 Gathering)