Coupling. The Woman is invigorating.
Do not act. Embrace the feminine.
Embrace new ideas and welcome new encounters. Spread the new to all. Don’t let your ambition get in the way. Beware of misplaced trust, divisive influences and personal advantage. Organize events creatively and let others carry them into effect.
The Image
The old character shows a pregnant woman and a woman giving birth, sign for the Royal Bride who arrives at the borders and will give birth to an heir.
Circle of Meanings
Meet, welcome, encounter, open yourself to; act through the yielding and the feminine; strange encounters, intense contact, gripped, overcome; sexual intercourse, mating, magnetism, gravity; a meeting of minds, win confidence; the royal bride who gives birth to an heir. Inner self-cultivation lets you connect action with the spirit. Heart Theme: 1 Inspiring Force of the Dragon.
Spirit Helpers
Heaven over Wind/Wood. Father and Eldest Daughter, the Creator and the Matchmaker, generate creative ideas that penetrate the inner world. This is the moment of encounter with the new. Open yourself and welcome what comes. It will connect you with creative force. Do not try to grasp and control this for it will evolve in mysterious ways. The feminine is full of invigorating strength now. Embrace the inspiration and let it go. Do not try to enforce your will. These meetings, brief intense encounters, reflect universal forces. Let them change you. Great things are moving in these events, spreading the spirit throughout the world. They bring unexpected encounters, lucky coincidences and enjoyable happenings. Do not try to hold on to them as they come and go. When Heaven and Earth meet, all the beings join in a brief and radiant display. The time of welcoming and coupling is truly great.
Voice of the Mothers
Open yourself and welcome what comes. Do not try to control the situation. This is a time of strange encounters that reveal a new fate. Inner self-cultivation now lets you connect your action with the spirit. This is a time of sacrifice and diminishing your personal drives (41). Do not focus on biting through obstacles (21).
Gou, Coupling is the appearance of the fate announced by an oracular message. It is the procession of the Royal Bride appearing at the borders on her journey to the sacred marriage with the King that will renew the time. It portrays a strong woman, a queen or ruler who distributes the fates. She symbolizes the return of the feminine power, of desire, joy, and beauty, the ability to manifest and take pleasure in life and brings strange encounters in her train. She inaugurates the River-Mountain festivals and sponsors all forms of coupling and mating, particularly the brief encounters when men and women meet, mate and take joy in each other. She presides over the autumn marriages and the omens of fertility, the bin-ritual and the “fish in the wrapping,” and suggests the willow-world of sexuality symbolized by melons and creeping vines. This is the Young Ancestress coming back from the mountain after receiving the seed of the spirit. It is the Ox Boy crossing the river of stars on a bridge of magpies, the lover’s bird, to mate with the Weaver Girl on the Feast of Women, the 7th day of the 7th moon. The injunction is not to grasp the woman by force but to help her on her journey to the King and the royal marriage. It will lead to a new order, a containing beauty that “tumbles down from Heaven.”
Fall (44): Harvest the crop by letting emerging new patterns move you. Prepare carefully. Make no impulsive decisions.
Winter (28): Find the seed of the new by standing alone without fear. Think about real goals and take a decisive stand for change.
Spring (43): Rouse new growth by decisively parting from old patterns. Let new developments be seen. Search out new associates.
Summer (1): Ripen the fruits. Act slowly and carefully to build your base.
Voice of the Fathers
This is a Realizing Figure, a Heart Theme of Change. It contains a Zone of Radical Transformation, a Great Transition that connects us with the creative power of the Dragon. It is an Approach to Centers of Power in the stage of the Symbolic Life that confers higher levels of empowerment in culture and a new ritual status on the fully individualized being.
The Situation: An encounter with an ambivalent new possibility for change released by a decisive shift in position.
Caring for Others: The new energy you face is both attractive and dangerous. It is up to you to handle it well, letting it change your ideas without trying to exploit it directly. Understand your own motives. View the situation as a whole. Look at how this new perspective can be used for the good of all. Beware of the traps of personal power. Be careful about who you invite in.
Setting Intentions: Examine the long-term effects of all actions. Do not be grasping. Know the seeds and where to plant them. Trust your instincts and intuition only when they are connected with the wider view. Look at effects as well as causes.
Communication and Interaction: Powerful and effective. Ask searching questions and listen to the answers. Examine motives. React clearly and spontaneously.
Change from the Inside Out: Be very clear about plans. Examine what you are recommending and how it can be connected to real universal values. Invest in ideas that strengthen creative self-reliance. New endeavors are auspicious but will take time. Seek support by taking the wider view. Beware of deception and greed in yourself and others.
- Immediate Future: strange encounters that reveal a new fate.
- Personal Development: embrace the feminine.
- Working within the Family: bring out the creative spirit in the events of life.
- Expanding the Circle: make sure judgement is not clouded.
- Partnership: share the energy of this time without trying to control things.
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 43:44 Breakthrough and Coupling develops the courage to speak at a critical moment and the patience to let yourself be influenced by the encounters that result.
Outer to Inner: The process transforms the Mediator trigram in the outer world of 43 into the Matchmaker trigram in the inner world of 44. It turns your need to express yourself in public into inner self cultivation.
Inner to Outer: This interiorisation shifts the Creator trigram from the inner world of 43 to the outer world of 44. This turns inner perseverance into the ability to connect your actions with 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
Attach this to the loom of change.
Wise Words! Trial: The Way is open. Have a direction to go.
See the Trap: An entangled pig balking at the sacrifice.
There is a connection to the spirits that will carry you through.
Do not act this impulse out. See the trap inherent in the situation and accept the sacrifice of your immediate desires. If you do not truly register this important message you will be cut off and isolated. The inspiring force is retreating into the underworld waters. It will soon emerge again. You are connected to a creative force. (1 Inspiring Force/Creator)
There are fish in the willow wrapping.
This is not a mistake. Hospitality is not advantageous.
Stay quiet and withdrawn. Your ideas have borne fruit. They need quiet and intimacy. Do not simply charge into obstacles. Make the decision and move quickly to the inner center. Turn your considerable strength into imagination. What is being born now is a purpose that belongs with you. You are coupled with a creative force. (33 Retiring/Retreat)
Coupled with fate, buttocks without flesh.
He limps haltingly. Adversity, the hungry souls and angry ghosts.
Without the Great you will make a mistake.
You are isolated or hurt and are trying to move to a new place. Believe in your central idea. Do not believe collective opinion and keep your own speech guarded. You are waiting in blood and must get out of this cave. Escape to your people’s doors, the place where you are welcome. When the distress ends friends will seek you out. Your sorrows will soon disappear. Gather energy for a decisive new move. (6 Arguing)
Outer World
Coupling. No fish in the willow wrapping.
Trap! Rising up to action closes the Way.
There are no creative possibilities in this. Objecting or rebelling will not help. You are involved with cruel people intent only on mastery. See this clearly. You might think that you see an interesting opportunity to communicate now, but if you open yourself you will be cut off and trapped. Subtly penetrate to a new situation. The cause for sorrow will disappear and you will catch the game you really need. Step outside the norms. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. (57 Subtle Penetration/Matchmaker)
Willow wrapping the melons, jade talisman in the mouth.
Held in this containing beauty, it tumbles down from Heaven.
This is a beautiful inspiration, a new destiny. What you do now will add elegance and beauty to life, inaugurating a wonderful new time. Stay alert and let your past sorrows go. If you bring out what is hidden you will obtain what you want. This is your day. This can renew your creative life. Be resolute and part from the past. You are connected to a creative force. (50 The Vessel)
Coupling with your horns. Distress. This is not a mistake.
You are turning this engagement into a trial of strength that leaves you totally confused. Let your confusion return you to yourself. If you try to take the lead now you will most certainly fail. Prepare your move very carefully. Do the inner work. Be simple, clear and pure. If you step into the deep waters surrounding you now you will be submerged and drown. Do not be afraid to act alone. You are connected with a creative force. (28 Great Transition)