9 Small Accumulates XIAO CHU

Small Accumulates. Gather the ghosts. Make an offering and you will succeed.
Shrouding clouds bring no rain yet.
We meet them at the Western Outskirts.

The Image
The old characters show a river between two banks and three grains of rice or connected silk bundles on a planted field, profound, dark and mysterious.

Spirit Helpers
Wind circulates above Heaven. Father and Middle Daughter, the Creator and the Matchmaker, create an enduring inner force that subtly penetrates the outer world. Pay attention to details. Be flexible. Adapt to each thing that crosses your path. Gather, retain and nourish all the little things so you can accumulate something great.  Think of yourself as raising animals, growing crops or bringing up children. The rain has not come yet, but the dense clouds that bring it are rolling in. The successful completion of your efforts is not far away. Take each thing as it comes. Use the small to make something great. Be flexible and adaptable. Tolerate and nourish things. You can accumulate an enduring force. Focus on the inherent beauty of each thing in order to realize its power. Praise away. Persist through gentle penetration. The clouds are spreading. The time to act is not far off.

Voice of the Mothers
Adapt to what crosses your path. Accumulate the Small to achieve the Great. Do not impose order. Give each thing a place to grow and flourish. Inner perseverance now leads to acquiring a place where you can influence the world you live in. Attract and join things through your willingness to accept them (31). Do not focus on your own quest (56).

Small Accumulates suggests the mating and pasturing of animals and the deep green pastures and wide plains bounded by mountains that set the scene for the procession of the Wu to the Outskirts Altar to meet the incoming spirits. It represents ceremonies to bring the autumn rains that signal the end of labor and the harvest held at the Moon Pit, Night Brightness (ye ming). This is the preparation for the River Mountain Time, the dances that bring men and women together and their marriages that affirm human community with the spirits and bring the souls into the world. It marks the coming in of a soul from the Ghost River and the time of the Moon Almost Full when the Changes were consulted. This time is like a shell or womb, a protective covering that will be broken through in spring. It is the beginning of the Secret Sickness Pathways that link personal and cultural disorders, circulating our suffering through a long term healing process. Philosophically, it is the nurturing of the smallest possible thing (ji), the emergent point that heralds change. It is a quality of the Way that, though now barely visible, will lead on to illumination.

Summer (9): Ripen the fruits by moving energetically. Eliminate doubt. Return to your flow. Identify new allies.
Fall (57): Harvest the crop by dealing carefully with each thing. Grow from your mistakes. Don’t look back. Expect real harmony to develop.
Winter (48): Find the seed of the new by emphasizing common human needs and strengths. Don’t strive for mastery. If you let yourself be led now, you can liberate the hidden potential.
Spring (5): Rouse new growth. Get your house in order and wait for the right moment to act. Changes are coming. Follow your true desire and wait for new developments. Don’t make plans, just listen.

Voice of the Fathers
This is an Inspiring Figure, part of a Zone of Radical Transformation when the creative power of the Dragon appears in the Opened Heart. It is the beginning of the Sacred Sickness Pathway that connects personal disorders with cultural change, a Transition from childhood to the stage of the Symbolic Life when we confront the problems of individual identity, sexuality and personal destiny.

The Situation: A time to recognize your subordinate position and accumulate hidden strength.

Caring for Others: You are in an unequal bargaining position. Recognize the power of the other party and use persuasion rather than force. Be friendly and conciliatory. Act through subtle and diplomatic suggestion. Do not take the lead. Success is assured.

Setting Intentions: Your main objective is to retain your individual status and independence of mind. Protect your freedom of choice. Reject things you find unsatisfactory unobtrusively.

Communication and Interaction: Be skilful and diplomatic. Arouse no resentments. Suggest, do not order. You can trust your intuitions but do not act on your ideas. Feedback is negative.

Change from the Inside Out: Very limited achievements. Do not attempt major projects or discuss important matters. Refine your own awareness and skill. New initiatives are inauspicious. Commit no resources, make no demands, and put agreements in abeyance.

• Immediate Future: a series of crises that do not seem connected.
• Personal Development: gather your ghosts, reclaim your projections.
• Working within the Family: do not impose your ideas. The small things count.
• Expanding the Circle: persuade but retain your independence.
• Partnership: ask: what am I doing to contribute to our problems? 

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 9:10 Small Accumulates and Treading develops the insight to gather in the small things and the strength to meet the new.

Outer to Inner: The process transforms the Matchmaker trigram in the outer world of 9 into the Mediator trigram in the inner world of 10. This turns your concern with finding a place where you can influence the world into inner self-reflection.

Inner to Outer: This interiorisation shifts the energy of the Creator trigram from the inner world of 9 to the outer world of 10. This turns inner perseverance into the ability to connect your words and actions to 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.
Returning to the birth of the Way. How could this be a mistake?
Wise Words! The Way opens.
You have been lost in a cloud of confusion but now you can see. Do not be timid. Advance and retreat like a warrior. Extend the opening and the possibilities for new connections. If you look at your steps you will see that you are connected with something larger than your personal desires. Step outside the norms. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (57 Subtle Penetration/Matchmaker)

Step 2 Inner Center: This inner re-organization leads to harmony with others.
Returning like an animal led on a leash.
Wise Words! The Way opens.
You have been lost and confused but are hauled back to what is important. Have no concern for glory or achievement. Locate yourself in the center and nourish your people. All cause for sorrow and discord will soon disappear. Tread on and part with the past.  Gather energy for a decisive new move. (37 Dwelling People)

Step 3 Threshold: This inner re-balancing lets you make your way in life.
The spokes of the cartwheel loosen.
Husband and wife turn their eyes to one another.
You can resolve old quarrels now, the endless cycle of charge and countercharge. Preserve your integrity by connecting to what is above and let your old identity disappear. If you carefully present your case, you can acquire a new destiny. Be open and provide what is needed. (61 Opened Heart/Connect to Center)

Outer World

Step 4 Arrival: This inner preparation leads to what is greater.
There is a connection to the spirits that will carry you through.
Bad blood leaves and apprehension departs. This is not a mistake.
Act with confidence. Leave the old quarrels behind. Creative energy is available now. Use it. This marks a return of the flow in your life. Trying to be a great leader leaves you open to danger. Step outside the norms and re-imagine the situation.  Simply co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (1 Inspiring Force/Creator)

Step 5 Outer Center: This inner re-grouping lets your real purpose shine.
There is a connection to the spirits that binds you to others.
Use your neighbor’s affluence.
You have a real connection to those around you. Do not be afraid to use it for the good of all. You can eliminate a powerful enemy. Disentangle yourself from the past. Smooth the way by acting from hiding. Success will spontaneously arrive. Step outside the norms and re-imagine the situation. Co-operate with the ongoing process of change. (26 Great Accumulates)

Step 6 Culmination: This inner stripping leads to a breakthrough.
We will plant the crop. The rain has already come.
You already abide in honor, power and virtue. Carry on!
The Moon is almost Full: There will be changes.
Trial: Adversity from the wife’s people, hungry souls and angry ghosts.
If the Realizing Person seeks to chastise others,
Trap! The Way will close.
You have achieved your goal and the rain falls to bless you. Do not try to discipline others now. Do the inner work and the new energy will come without urging. Respect it. Move with your real desires. Leave the old disputes behind. Step outside the norms and re-imagine the situation. Co-operate with the ongoing process of this change. (5 Attending)