I Ching: Monday, October 12

One of the sixty-four hexagrams

This is an archived reading, kept as it was published.

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The Arousing

Hexagram 51 is thunder doubled: a shock, and then the same shock again. The Judgment holds the whole sequence in one sentence. Alarm, then laughing words, and through it all the man at the sacrifice does not drop the ladle. Something may arrive today without notice. The standard the classic sets is not fearlessness but continuity: keep hold of what you were doing. Do not chase what the jolt scatters, since the second line says it comes back in seven days. Then use the clarity a fright leaves behind and look over your own arrangements.

For your star sign

The same reading, taken through each sign of the zodiac.

Aries

Shock wakes you up faster than most, and your instinct is to answer it with action. The man at the sacrifice answers it by not dropping the ladle. Let the first move after the thunder be continuing what you were already doing.

Taurus

Very little startles you, which helps, until something finally does and you dig in. The fourth line is shock stuck in the mud: the jolt arrives and nothing moves. Let this one move you at least an inch.

Gemini

The news reaches you first and you pass it on before the alarm has turned into laughing words. Wait for the second half of the Judgment. The sequence is fright, then relief, and repeating the fright only stretches it.

Cancer

When the thunder comes, your first thought is for everyone else under the roof. Look after them, then do what the Image asks of you as well: set your own life in order while the scare has made it easy to see.

Leo

You like to be the steady one in the room, and this hexagram supplies the role: everyone jumps and one person keeps hold of the ladle. Play it without commentary. Composure that announces itself has already dropped something.

Virgo

The Image was practically written for you. In fear and trembling, examine yourself. Do the audit while the shock has made your arrangements unusually visible, then stop, because the classic asks for an examination and not a prosecution.

Libra

To you a jolt to the balance can feel like a personal failure, as if you should have kept the peace. Thunder is not a breach of manners. Let the alarm happen, and wait for the laughing words the Judgment places after it.

Scorpio

Today's shock may look to you like the sign of something deeper, and you will want to investigate. The fifth line describes shocks going back and forth with nothing at all lost. Check whether anything was actually damaged before you dig.

Sagittarius

Laughing at a scare comes almost at once for you, which is half the Judgment. The other half is the Image: once you have laughed, look at what the scare exposed in your own arrangements and put it right.

Capricorn

Disruption is something you plan for, and you resent it when it comes anyway. The classic does not ask you to have prevented the thunder. It asks whether the ladle is still in your hand, and in yours it usually is.

Aquarius

A shock that lands on someone near you will look like their problem. The top line disagrees. Trouble at the neighbour's is a warning, and acting on it is worth whatever the relatives say about your caution.

Pisces

Alarm goes straight through you and can leave you dazed. The third line has a single remedy for that state: move. Any action, even a small one, is what this hexagram counts as getting up again.

For your Chinese animal

The same reading, taken through each animal of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat

Something may be lost in the upheaval, and you will want to go straight after it. The second line is explicit: do not chase it. Seven days is the classic's cycle for a return, so let the loss sit for now.

Ox

Thunder rarely moves you, and that steadiness is exactly what the Judgment admires. Keep the ladle. The one thing to check is the fourth line, where steadiness turns into being stuck in the mud.

Tiger

Your answer to a shock is to charge at it. The top line says going on brings misfortune while everything is collapsing. Stand where you are, look about, and act only on what is plainly heading your way.

Rabbit

The thunder reaches you before anyone else and stays with you longer. The Judgment allows for the fright; it simply expects it to pass into laughing words. Let it pass, and make no plans while it is still loud.

Dragon

A speech about the shock will tempt you. The man in the Judgment makes no speech; he keeps hold of the ladle and finishes the ceremony. In this hexagram the finishing is the statement.

Snake

Before the thunder reaches you, you will already have noticed it next door. That is the top line's warning, and the line says act on it. Being thought overcautious is the price, and it is a small one.

Horse

A jolt makes you bolt. The second line describes valuables lost across the nine hills and says not to pursue them. Stay inside the fence and let what scattered find its own way back.

Goat

Shocks unsettle you more than you let on. The hexagram treats fear as normal and short, then asks one thing: that it does not dislodge you from your work. Keep your hands on what you were doing.

Monkey

Turning the scare into a joke before anyone else has stopped shaking is your style. The laughing words are in the Judgment, so that is allowed. Then do the Image's part and quietly audit what the scare exposed.

Rooster

Disorder bothers you, and a shock is disorder arriving all at once. Point your eye for detail where the Image points it: at your own arrangements, set in order while the fright has made their flaws plain.

Dog

The moment the thunder sounds you will stand guard for everyone. The fifth line notes repeated shocks with nothing lost and still finds things to be done. Do those things instead of watching the sky.

Pig

Comfort is the first thing a shock takes away, and you will want it back immediately. The Image uses the discomfort instead. Spend a little of the day putting your life in order before you settle down again.

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