Bind your back. Still your personality so it does not catch on things.
Move through the chamber without seeing your people.
This is not a mistake.
The Image
The old character shows the eye of the ancestor and a person turning back, focused on the past.
Finish things, control quality, the end of a cycle of time; mountain, limit, boundary, obstacle; calm, still, stabilize, depersonalize, bind, fix, finish; reflect on what has come before, articulate the lessons of past experience; the gate between Winter and Spring. Inner self-restraint now reveals the patterns that mark real ends and beginnings. Heart Theme: 40 Deliverance from the suffering of the past.
Spirit Helpers
Mountain doubled. Youngest Son, the Gatekeeper, finishes things and controls their quality. Bring the old cycle to an end. Do not take things personally. Calm and stabilize your desire to act in order to understand what has been accomplished. Reflect on the past to articulate the future. This marks a limit, the end of a cycle, a time when things articulate themselves fully before they pass away. Stabilize yourself. Do not try to advance; see through your desires. By stabilizing your back you can still the personality. You can move through life without being caught up in things or being confined to a social identity. This is not a mistake. Stay where you are and think things over deeply. Recognize your limits. Stir things up or still them as the time requires, but do not get entangled in anything.
Voice of the Mothers
Calm, still, stabilize yourself. Reflect on what has come before and articulate the lessons of the past. Inner self-restraint now reveals the patterns that mark real ends and beginnings. Prepare a fertilizing shock that will revive creative energy (51). Do not focus on harmonizing the people around you (13).
Gen, Bound is the active agent that fixes the omens and binds the fates, the guard, protector and spirit of the Inner Work. Bound stands at the limit and makes limits. He is the limit of Heaven and Earth, the limit of old and new, the mountain temple filled with images of the spirits and the Mountain Men who soar like birds beyond the ordinary limits of life. The power of Earth works through Bound, ending and articulating what is past. The old time or the cycle that is ending is bound, opened and offered to the spirits imaged in the sacrifice of the Old King who is dismembered and sent out to the edge of the world to mark the limits. The term Bound parallels the binding and opening of a sacrificial victim with the stilling of the body, the release of inner awareness through meditative practices. Once stilled, the body becomes the source of holy omens, footprints of the spirits. This doubled process evokes Tang the Completer and the Duke of Zhou, leaders who offered themselves in sacrifice to Heaven when their people were suffering. The word with other roots shows a cluster of related images: the buffoons and exorcists who dance at Spring’s Beginning, driving out the old; the Sacred Tree at the Earth Altar, our source and root; a deadly poison; footprints, traces and subtle perceptions; skin, leather and protection. With Bound, we confront our compulsions and the violence within ourselves. Through Bound we open the subtle body.
Fall (52): Rouse new growth by meeting others with generosity and care. Cut through pride and complication and you will signal to your true kin. Lead by example. Learn the lessons of the past.
Winter (15): Find the seed of the new by working hard and keeping your pride out of the way. If you master your words you can influence people. Work on quietly to prepare the future.
Spring (36): Rouse new growth by hiding your talents and accepting the difficult journey. You are connected to others through a network of spiritual beliefs. Be clear and simple. The dark time is ending.
Summer (22): Ripen the fruits by letting appearance reflect inner worth. Do the inner work. Don’t take the easy way out.
Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing Figure and spirit helper. It empowers the Sacred Sickness Pathway connecting personal disorders with cultural change and is a Gate to the stage of the Symbolic Life when we must deal with power and our responsibilities to the human community.
The Situation: A time to still drives and compulsions to adjust the pace and conditions of life.
Caring for Others: Focus on providing happy, relaxed and secure living conditions. The basic question is: at what price this approach? Decisions must be made now to insure that value and results may arise through natural dynamics.
Setting Intentions: Planning this process requires clear, uncluttered thought and the ability into penetrate problems free of self-interest and ego concerns. This sort of effective planning is necessary for spiritual and physical health of both the family as a whole and the individual members.
Communication and Interaction: Information is not getting through due to internal tension and mistrust. Feedback is self-defensive. It is imperative this be dispelled in a spirit of cooperative endeavor.
Change from the Inside Out: A period of rest and quiet is needed before any further development is possible. Consider where things break down and why. When the fundamental dynamics are in order, growth will occur.
- Immediate Future: the end of problem or cycle of life.
- Personal Development: reflect on the past and learn its lessons.
- Working within the Family: be the calm center to which everything must return.
- Expanding the Circle: create a human atmosphere based on natural cycles.
- Partnership: keep still and wait. The new will come in its own time.
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 51:52 Shake and Stilling/Bound develops your ability to still your compulsions and rouse new creative energy in all.
Outer to Inner: The process of the pair transforms the Groundbreaker trigram in the outer world of 51 into the Gatekeeper trigram in the inner world of 52. This turns outer awareness to inner self restraint.
Inner to Outer: This interiorisation transforms the Groundbreaker trigram in the inner world of 51 into the Gatekeeper trigram in the outer world of 52. This turns the shock of inner enlightenment into awareness of the patterns that mark real ends and 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
Bind and open its feet. This is not a mistake.
An ever-flowing and advantageous Trial.
When an impulse to action comes, hold back before it leads you into compulsive entanglements. This can change your whole life for the better. Be brave and independent. These goings and comings will release the energy now bound up in the past. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (22 Adorning)
Bind and open its calves.
You cannot rescue your following. My heart is not glad.
Though you can take this opportunity to stop running after impossible desires you cannot help others on the same course. Still yourself. A fertilizing shock comes and goes bringing up old memories and old quarrels. You must deal with the corruption of nourishment and care now. Do not run after impossible desires. Follow the new spirit for this can lead to real excellence. If you let yourself be led now you can realize the hidden potential. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (18 Corruption/Renovating)
Binding the loins, separating the spine.
Adversity, the hungry souls and angry ghosts.
Acrid smoke smothers the heart.
You are cutting yourself in two, separating yourself from real and legitimate desires. The acrid smoke from this repression smothers your heart. You must release the fertile energy from this cloud of repression and confusion. The center of life is moving. Strip away your old ideas. Something important is returning. (23 Stripping)
Outer World
Binding and opening its trunk. This is not a mistake.
Calm and stabilize your heart. This lets you see where your real motivations lie. A fertilizing shock has roused your dormant creative energy. In this time of abundance you can see only dimly. Even though you have found a place to abide you know a greater mission awaits. Step outside the norms. Do not be afraid to act alone. These goings and comings will release the energy now bound up in the past. You are connected to a creative force. (56 Sojourning)
Binding its jaws.
The words have order. The cause for sorrow disappears.
If you restrain your speech what you say will have order and elegance. The fertilizing shock comes and you feel you have lost something precious. Do not grieve. Look at things from an independent perspective. Everything you lost will soon return of itself. Your creative energy will make contact with deep sources of energy. When this is complete nothing can stop you. Proceed step by step. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (53 Gradual Advance)
Generous at the boundary. The Way is open.
Meet people with generosity, honesty and care now and you will receive it in return. You have learned what you need to face your new life. Do not call out for help. Cut through pride and complication. Let your actions speak and you will signal to your true kin. These goings and comings release the energy bound up in the past. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (15 Humbling)