7 Legions SHI

Legions. Using the Experienced People opens the Way.
Without fault.

The Image
The old character shows a pivot or banner used to give signals to the army and many paths joining on the way to the Earth Altar where war is announced.

Spirit Helpers
Ghost River beneath Earth. Middle Son and Mother, the Navigator and the Midwife, are creating an inner willingness to confront danger. Build alliances and organize a force of people who work together. Create functional units and interconnect them so you can take effective action. Develop the capacity to lead. Look at people you respect and use them as models. Help those who cannot help themselves. It is not a mistake to use force in this way. The ideal of this force is to serve, to bring order and protect those who cannot protect themselves. It founds cities and defends what people need to live their lives. You are surrounded by crowds of unorganized things. Correct this by giving each thing its proper place. This is difficult, grievous work. You must take risks and confront obstacles. This activates a central principle that people will spontaneously adhere to. It is exactly what is needed. How could this be a mistake?

Voice of the Mothers
Organize yourself so you can take effective action. Develop the capacity to lead. Use experienced people as models. Containing your fear and impulse now brings a deep faith in the overall processes of life. Ponder the manifestations of the new spirit (20). Do not focus on opening communication (58).

Legions is war and battle through which unity arises. It is the power of the dead focused as a weapon and the unity of spirit to make war, imaged in the experienced people who, by offering themselves selflessly can effectively wield this power. The root of the term shows a banner, a central symbol or totem ancestor. It suggests the banners of plain white, sign of mourning and purity, used by King Wu in the Battle of the Mu Wilderness. This is war fought in the spirit. It is used not only to gain territory, but to redress wrongs.  Captives taken in such battles were sacrificed to the Ancestor, feeding him and assuring a continuing flow of blessing to the people. The figure suggests the great omen of the change of the Mandate of Heaven, a solar eclipse given to King Wu when he was in the Mourning Hut beginning three years of isolation for the death of his royal parent. He asked the Turtle Oracle about continuing the prescribed mourning and received a clear answer: “Trap! The Way closes.” He announced the war, empowered his War Leaders and set the armies marching, carrying the corpse of King Wen, the spiritual father of the Zhou nation.  These actions could only be performed with the oracle’s assurance that Heaven had conferred the Mandate and that the power of the spirits would “carry us through.”

Winter (7): Find the seed of the new. Make sure the rules you set don’t obstruct your real power. Follow your real goals.
Spring (19): Rouse new growth by stripping away the past. Find a new guiding image. Be generous. Rise and activate your great purpose.
Summer (41): Ripen the fruits by giving up personal goals. Clean up mistakes of the past. Do what you have to do.
Fall (4): Harvest the crop by stepping back and growing within. Stop and establish your foundations and the fruit will fall into your hands.

Voice of the Fathers
This is an Inspiring Figure, part of a Zone of Radical Transformation when the Ghost River emerges from the Earth Altar to change the face of the world It is the Mission of the stage of the Symbolic Life when the child seeks to create a world in which to discover a self.

The Situation: An established family system confronting a major challenge.

Caring for Others: The situation requires clear goals, tight organization, clearly defined strategy and real solidarity. The key to success is working as a cohesive group. Concentrate on how you present things and persuade others. Use the resources within the family to support this undertaking. Coordinate efforts and set limits. Cultivate enthusiasm and a caring attitude.

Setting Intentions: Focus all support and attention on those who work with people outside the family group. All decisions must be unanimous and strategically planned.

Communication and Interaction: Encourage a free flow of up to date information that is integrated at all levels. Support to those working with outsiders must be sincere, immediate and based on facts.

Change from the Inside Out: Use your best assets, identify goals with care. No secrets. Explain tactics and motivate all. If people are motivated by real enthusiasm they will attract positive situations and earn respect and recognition.

• Immediate Future: a decisive moment is coming.
• Personal Development: organize your inner world to take effective action.
• Working within the Family: clear what stops people from focusing on real issues.  
• Expanding the Circle: recognize creativity and cultivate enthusiasm.
• Partnership: get organized. Face issues of leading and following.

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 7:8 Legions and Grouping gives you the inner organization to use force effectively and the insight to see spiritual relations.

Outer to Inner: The process shifts the Midwife trigram from the outer world of 7 to the inner world of 8.  This turns your abstract faith in the processes of life into real inner devotion.

Inner to Outer: This interiorisation shifts the Navigator trigram from the inner world of 7 to the outer world of 8. This turns inner containment of fear and impulse into the ability to manage the flux of events.

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.
Legions issue forth using trumpets and orders.
Obstructing their power? Trap! The Way closes.
Be sure the rules you set do not obstruct your real power. Release your spirit into a new image. Measure things against the ideal of the Realizing Person who seeks to live in accord with the flow. Without this the group you lead will be without a true goal. Something important is returning now. Be open and provide what is needed. (19 Nearing)

Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Located in the center of the Legions.
Wise Words! The Way is open. This is not a mistake.
The King bestows a mandate three times.
You are in the center of a well-organized force and receive a command to act. Carrying this through will change your life. No need to repeat or rehearse things. Act freely. These hidden processes will lead to enduring results. If you are magnanimous in your victory, the true connections will manifest themselves. (2 Field/Midwife)

Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
The Legions are carting the corpse.
Perhaps stay in mourning? Trap! The Way closes.
Get rid of false images and useless ideas. There is no resistance in sight. You are outside the normal group now precisely because of your real moral and spiritual worth. Hold onto your values and you can truly influence others. The great project opens from this gathering. If you let yourself be led you can realize the hidden potential. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (46 Ascending)

Outer World

Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
Legions retreat and rest on the left. This is not a mistake.
This is a time of rest and re-organization. Splitting from your current partners brings new energy that will carry you through. Do not ally yourself with the old oppressors. Have no fear. Difficulties are going and the reverse is coming. This will release energy bound in the past. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (40 Deliverance/Liberating)

Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
The birds of prey take to the fields. This is not a mistake.
Advantageous to seize them and put them to the question.
Let Elder Son conducts the Legions while Younger Son carries the banner.
Perhaps stay in mourning? Trap! The Way closes.
Conflict has broken out and you must engage. Be aggressive. Rid yourself of old ideas and bad memories. Do not be trapped in the pit of the past. Be flexible and adapt and carry your inspiration with you. You are at the center of the new group. Take decisive action. Be open and provide what is needed. (29 Ghost River/Navigator)

Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
The Great Leader receives a Mandate:
Lay out the city and receive the Dwellers. Do not use Small People.
The campaign is over. You have the responsibility to lay out the new capital. Do not simply adapt to the past. Take time and establish real foundations. Connect this experience to your own deep roots. Empower others you truly respect to help you. Do not be violent and impulsive for you would be attacking the very process that will give you what you need. Something important is returning. Be open and provide what is needed. (4 Enveloping)