3 Sprouting ZHUN

Sprouting and Massing.
The Source of Success: Advantageous Trial
Do not use having a direction to go.
Advantageous to install lords as helpers.

The Image
The old character shows a deeply rooted sprout pushing its way through the hard crust of earth.

Circle of Meanings
Begin, establish, found; difficulties at the beginning, birth pains, arduous, demanding; establish a base, gather strength to surmount obstacles; vitality, a new time. Heart Theme: 23 Stripping away the past.

Spirit Helpers
Thunder in the Ghost River. Eldest Son and Middle Son, the Groundbreaker and the Navigator, are rousing new growth that brings outer cycles to an end. This is a time of beginnings. Assemble energy for the difficult task. This brings success, profit and insight. Many new things are emerging. Do not force them into a pattern. Install helpers and delegate responsibilities. Stake out your territory, assemble your troops, and collect your resources. Get rid of old ideas and let everything come into view. There is heavy work to be done, so awaken your energy and confront the task. Things are coming at you from all sides. Give everything a place. This is the beginning of a new world.

Voice of the Mothers
A new world is emerging. Assemble things and accumulate your energy. Overcome difficulties by connecting with others. Accepting the shock of inner enlightenment will give you the ability to manage the flow and flux of events. Hide your light and begin the difficult journey that leads to deliverance (36). Do not focus on preparing a message to the future (62).

Sprouting is the beginning of new being, the renewal of the time. It is the dusk before dawn, a dusky light full of the burgeoning grasses. Sprouting suggests the Sun Tree (Fu Sang) from which the suns rise each day and its counterpart, the Moon Tree where they begin their underwater journey of return. Each has a bathing pool or abyss at its root that connects it to the Ghost River that runs beneath the world we live in. Together they form the World Tree, an axis and center that unites Heaven, Earth and the Ghost River beneath. This axis mundi and Tree of Kings is also imaged as a procession of riders going to fetch brides called “sprouts” and the massing of soldiers, a force gathering to establish and order a new world. All these things – birth, marriage and gathering force – are in their difficult beginnings, the beginning of a new life, a new world and a new time.

Spring (3): Rouse new growth by distancing yourself from old entanglements. Do it now. This will lead to a breakthrough.
Summer (42): Ripen the fruits by stepping up all your involvements. Clean up an infectious mistake. Heed the warning and take action. Don’t fall into negative feelings.
Fall (20): Harvest the crop through seeking signs of a new time as they manifest. Compare what you have against what you need. The Experienced People are set to begin, so don’t impede them with outmoded thinking.
Winter (8): Find the seed of the new by re-grouping your thoughts. The new connections will carry you through. Lay out a plan and integrate it with your current resources. New energy will shift your momentum.

Voice of the Fathers
This is an Inspiring Figure, an Approach to Centers of Power in the stage of the Symbolic Life when the child seeks to create a world in which to discover a self.

The Situation: The birth of a new project in a flurry of activity.

Caring for Others: Your position is undeveloped but prospects are very auspicious. Focus on clarity among family members and seek cooperation of others. Organize yourself. Effort is required over a three month period. Sustain energy and perseverance. Share all decisions. You cannot do this alone.

Setting Intentions: A plan is emerging. Be flexible and watch what happens. Make short term plans only. See how things evolve. It is an excellent time to begin something new. Persistent effort will show results. Establish firm foundations.

Communication and Interaction: Keep communication to a minimum and carefully evaluate input. Your judgment is improving but you must consult with others. Do not act on your own. Make no firm commitments on expenditures. Seek support. Listen to and cooperate with others.

Change from the Inside Out: Be cautious. You do not know the reach of your project yet. Put off final choices. Make no firm commitment.

• Immediate Future: many challenges, many new connections.
• Personal Development: a time to give birth to yourself.
• Working within the Family: help renew the stagnant situation.
• Expanding the Circle: establish foundations. Share all decisions.
• Partnership: give it time. Let go of the old and nurture what emerges.

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 Inspiring phase of this Pair.

The transformative process of the Pair 3:4 Sprouting and Enveloping develops the fortitude to deal with difficulties inherent in a new start and the wisdom to protect the new spirit it contains.

Outer to Inner: The process of the pair shifts the Navigator trigram from the outer world of 3 to the inner world of 4. This changes your ability to manage the flux of events into an inner containment of fear and impulse.

Inner to Outer: This interiorisation transforms the Groundbreaker trigram in the inner world of 3 into the Gatekeeper in the outer world of 4. This turns inner enlightenment into the ability to see the patterns that mark real ends and real beginnings.

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.
A stone pillar. The riders wheel and turn.
Trial: Advantageous for a residence.
Advantageous to install lords as helpers.
Stop and establish your deep foundations. Empower others to help you. You have a mandate to lay out a new city and receive the dwellers. Do not be violent or withholding. You would be attacking the protection that will bring things to maturity. (8 Grouping)

Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Sprouting then quitting, bunching and turning, riding the horses in full array.
Those who arrive are definitely not outlaws. Seek the marriage alliance.
Trial: The woman will not yet nurse a child.
Ten years, then she will nurse one.
You reach out to people then turn away. Drop the hostility. Leave your usual ways of thought. Dissolve the past in the sweat of this new endeavour. It will take time, but in the end all will come right. There is something of great worth in this situation.  Be open and provide what is needed. (60 Articulating)

Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
Chasing the deer without a guide, you wander alone into the forest center.
The Realizing Person almost fails to realize that going on will bring distress.
You are being carried away by your impulses. Do not go on like this. Do not confine your spirit in outmoded desires. It is time to eliminate the negativity and compulsion. Protect the real transformation that is going on. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (63 Already Crossing)

Outer World

Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
Bunching and turning, riding the horses in full array.
Seek the marriage alliance. Wise Words! Going on opens the Way.
Nothing not advantageous. Harvesting.
Go forward. Make the connection. Everything will benefit. Do not chase things. Connect with the flow and your understanding will be brightened. Do not be grasping or try to exploit this opportunity. Correct the corruption of authority. Proceed step by step.  Gather energy for a decisive new move.  (17 Following)

Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
Sprouting: its juice. Reward of food for the soldiers.
Trial for the Small: Wise Words! The Way is open.
Trial for the Great: Trap! The Way is closed.
You have found the essence of growth. Make sure everything gets what it needs. Adapt to what happens, do not try to impose your will. Be generous now and you can renew the entire situation. Mark things off clearly and strip away old ideas. Let in the new connections and take control of your dwelling. (24 Returning)

Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
Riding the horses in full array, while weeping blood courses down.
Free yourself from this entangling situation. Diminish your attachment. Strip away your old ideas. Punish those who deserve punishment, and free your youthful spirit. Take this in or the situation could do real harm. Be open and provide what is needed. (42 Augmenting)