32 Persevering HENG

Persevering. Make an offering and you will succeed.
Without fault. Trial: Advantageous. Advantageous to have a direction to go.

The Image
The old character shows a heart, a boat between two shores and the spiral path of the waxing moon.

Spirit Helpers
Thunder over Wind. Eldest Son and Eldest Daughter, the Gatekeeper and the Matchmaker, bring inner penetration and outer stimulation that renew each other. Find what continues and endures. Be constant, regular and stable. Set real goals. Have real aspirations. Persist in what you know is right. You must create a real form for the gifts you have been given. This will bring success and effective power so endure in your path. Have a definite plan and follow it. This is the way of the husband and the wife, a relation that endures over the vicissitudes of time. Cling to established principles now. As you complete one thing, let it become the start of the next. The sun and moon depend on Heaven, thus their light endures. The sage endures in the way, thus the human world can change and perfect itself. If you contemplate where and how things persevere, you will see the deep purpose of all the myriad beings.

Voice of the Mothers
Endure in what is right. Be constant, regular and stable. Create an enduring image for the gifts of the spirit. Inner self cultivation now brings a liberating awareness of the whole. Change conflict into creative tension by dealing with the shadow (38). Do not focus on retreating (33).

Heng, persevering or fixing the omen refers to creating rituals and symbols that fix a spirit influence so that its power and virtue (de) endures in the heart. This is important for diviners and spirit-workers. It makes their power firm and keeps harm away. Confucius said: “It is said in Change: A person without heng will not succeed as a Wu-Intermediary. How true! Not fixing the power and virtue of an omen leads to failure. Just reading it is not enough.” Such fixings are rituals and meditations that fix or stabilize the heart. The word heng is related to keng, suggesting the path of the Moon and Moon Cult that read the Changes. It is the regular movement of a boat between two shores, the faithful heart, laws and habits, continuity in development. The stabilizing rite (heng) performed at the new moon involved drawing circles or spirals around the omen-objects as symbols of endurance in the endless succession of moments. It sanctifies a center, like the circular furrow plowed around a new city, the rings that lovers share or the circle a shaman draws around a patient. This fixes the experience of the spirit so that it comes back every time the situation arises. It changes the shape of the heart-mind into a self-contained and self-renewing whole.

Winter (32): Find the seed of the new by waiting patiently. Do not try to organize people. The connection is there. Act gradually and persistently.
Spring (34): Rouse new growth by learning from past mistakes. Accept the hard work. Make a clean break from the past. Everything you want is waiting for you. Invigorate your great idea and push on.
Summer (14): Ripen the fruits. Your motives and aims are good. Gather your team. Work to clear the channels of communication. Make the shift with grace and elegance. Success is assured.
Fall: (50): Harvest the crop by articulating a breakthrough that can truly change people’s awareness. You have found the perfect plan. Give it an enduring form and you can change the world.

Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing Figure, a site of mediating activity that connects the primary powers to personal life. It is a Zone of Radical Transformation when individual experience becomes words that carry to a new generation. It is a Gate to the second half of life and the stage of the Symbolic Life when we struggle to found an individual dwelling, family and career.

The Situation: A time of natural harmony, a self-sustaining and self renewing whole.

Caring for Others:  Focus on sustaining the current state of dynamic equilibrium on all levels. Make adaptations that keep the existing harmony stable and dynamic. Keep an eye on trends in your surroundings and adjust to them. Stay in the center. Make no far-reaching changes or radical moves.

Setting Intentions: Maintain a steady course through the strength of an independent position. Keep things moving; be alert. Provide the balancing force through which successful actions can be maintained. Take no risks in the internal functioning of the family system. Keep family members up to date with community-wide trends. The middle way is best.

Communication and Interaction: Good general consensus. Keep feedback honest and reliable. Always seek input to keep your finger on the pulse of the times.

Change from the Inside Out: Steady growth. Maintain your current approach to presentation and persuading others. Your judgment is sound. This is not a time for new directions.

• Immediate Future: be consistent in all you do.
• Personal Development: create images that give spirit a place in your heart.
• Working within the Family: stabilize desires through containing images.
• Expanding the Circle: maintain a steady course. Seek creative input.
• Partnership: you and your partner are one. Realize the deep power of this.

Pairing: Bringing Change to Life
Each hexagram is part of a Pair that that activates the 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 31:32 Conjoining and Persevering develops the power to join what is separated and make it an enduring part of your life.

Outer to Inner: the process transforms the Mediator trigram in the outer world trigram of 31 into the Matchmaker trigram in the inner world of 32. This turns your need to express yourself in public into inner self-cultivation.

Inner to Outer: This interiorisation transforms the Gatekeeper trigram in the inner world of 31 into the Groundbreaker trigram in the outer world of 32. This turns your inner self-restraint into a liberating awareness of the whole of life.

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.
Deepening Persevering. You try to fix the swirling waters.
Trial: Trap! The Way closes. There is no advantageous direction.
You are trying to fix this influence too soon. This is the wrong way to go about it. Nothing you come up with can help you. Hold back for now. There is greater fertility in retreat. Do not try to set others in order or launch an expedition. The connection is there but it must be nurtured. Be resolute in this. You are coupled with a creative force. (34 Great Invigorating)

Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Persevering. Fix the omen.
The cause of sorrow disappears.
If you persevere in what you have established your sorrows will disappear. The power and the ability are there. Commit yourself. You have a deep connection that will endure over time and wipe away past sorrows. You are now feeling the beginnings. Be small. Identify with the mothers and the servants, not the fathers and the leaders. Do not be afraid to act alone. You are coupled with a creative force. (62 Small Traverses/Flying Bird)

Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
Not Persevering in power and virtue.
Someone gives you a gift and even then you are embarrassed.
Trial: Distress.
You are betraying your own promise. Everything will lead to your embarrassment because you cannot keep your heart steady. You go back and forth in your thoughts trying to understand things. Have no fear. Difficulties are going, the connection is coming. Your friends will be there for you. Do not keep beating yourself against impossible obstacles. Deliver yourself from your sense of burden and your need for privilege. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (40 Deliverance/Liberating)

Outer World

Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
Trying to fix the omen when there is no game in the fields.
There is no game in sight, no possibility of connection. Restrain your impulses and leave quietly. Hold on to what supports you. Let the present situation dissolve and think about your real ideals. If you let yourself be led you can realize the hidden potential. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (46 Ascending)

Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
Persevering in power and virtue. Fix the omen.
Trial: Wise Words! The Way opens through the Wife.
The Way closes through the Husband.
Persevere in real virtue. This is a favorable situation if you act through the receptive. Do not be swept off your feet. If you insist on dominance you will be cut off and fall into a trap. A hasty move now will lead to nothing but trouble.  Stay right where you are and you will soon have all you want. You are surrounded by omens of rebirth and beauty. You are connected to a creative force. (28 Great Transition)

Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
You try to fix the distant horizons.
Trap! The Way closes.
You cannot make anything endure like this. The support is not there. Find an image of what truly endures and give up trying to control the future. You feel the stirrings of creative desire, but this influence is just beginning. Begin the inner journey. Let the transformation find its own way and time. Be resolute and part from the past. You are connected to a creative force. (50 The Vessel)