It’s a Moon/Pluto square kind of day today. With the Moon in Aries and its host, Mars in Taurus, moving into trines with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, the Mood is both productive and fierce.
Here’s what to watch for:
* the Moon/Pluto square today brings correction through confrontation…watch for outbursts, temper tantrums, defiance, displays of willful resistance, or other bullying or “strong man” tactics
* the Moon/Pluto square purge, releases, heals as it dredges the depths
* the hosts of this square, Mars and Saturn, are engaging in a trine right now, which means the confrontation, intensity, and depth of today’s Moon/Pluto dynamic may lead to a constructive marshaling of one’s energy and resources
* bringing someone or something difficult or unruly under control is an artform…too much pressure and the bull sits down…too little and the bull won’t move…getting the best out of someone or something usually entails knowing how to motivate without deceiving or manipulating…
* The 15th hexagram of the I Ching is called “Modesty,” and it depicts that which is high or great being emptied in order to benefit or serve that which is “below.” If someone is powerful, but modest and humble, they shine with the light of wisdom. If someone is “lowly” and yet they cling to humility and modesty, they gain the magnanimity of those “above.” In this way, hexagram 15 is one of the only hexagrams of the entire 64 that features all auspiciousness in each line. It is a promise of success, regardless of one’s position, if one clings to humility or due to one’s humility.
* The 6th line of hexagram 15 is one of the more puzzling and enigmatic philosophical lines of any in the I Ching. This is because it is a yin line at the top and would typically represent an ending or sweet resolution, like a nice retirement party or the “glow of the setting sun.” However, in this case, the advice of the line is to mobilize the multitudes or to engage in military action.
* One commentator writes, “A person who is really sincere in his modesty must make it show in reality. He or she must proceed with great energy in this. When enmity arises nothing is easier than to lay blame on another. A weak person takes offense perhaps, and draws back, feeling self-pity; he thinks that it is modesty that keeps him from defending himself. Genuine modesty sets one to creating order and inspires one to begin by disciplining one’s own ego and one’s immediate circle. Only through having the courage to marshal one’s armies against oneself, will something forceful really be achieved.”
* In other words, modesty does not mean inaction. Humility does not mean apathy, weakness, or secret self-righteous resentment. Not at all!
* The fruits of humility and modesty mobilize our energy and help us to create healthy structures, healthy social lives, healthy spiritual practices, healthy homes and families, healthy communities.
* In this regard, a famous Confucian scholar, Zhu Xi once said of this line, “The content of military strategy and tactics includes humility as well. It is to retreat in order to advance that brings about triumph.”
* Alfred Huang cites the Tao Te Ching in relation to this line: “If a great country treats a smaller country with humility, it will gain the obedience of the smaller country. If a small country treats a great country with humility, it will obtain the magnanimity of the great country. Therefore one benefits by becoming humble; the other benefits by being humble.”
* Today’s 15th hexagram reading also changed and once more brought back hexagram 54, “The Marrying Maiden.” Again, depicting a situation where we are asked to accept a somewhat lowly or subordinate position rather than grasping or groping for power or the object of our desire, no matter how much we feel we may deserve it, no matter how unfair we may feel our position is.
* The “marshaling” of one’s energy, resources, and activities, toward a positive outcome, regardless of one’s current position, is achieved through humility. Not a passive, weak, or ineffective humility, but a humility that gets the job done without making demands or power moves. Humility’s attraction is that great.
* If we want to change others, organize or mobilize others around us, we have to walk our talk, and we have to motivate others by virtue of our modesty. This is a good lesson for the Moon in Aries square to Pluto in Capricorn today…a lesson we may easily bang our heads on a few times today if we’re not careful. 🙂
* Put in another way: modesty is the love of God’s strength, shining bashfully through the individual that has been empowered to work quietly but effectively as its instrument. This is why Jesus included the admonition to love God with all of thy “strength.”
Prayer: Help us to be active in our smallness. Where we meet resistance may we come to recognize your strength, and fall in quiet but determined love.
Here’s what to watch for:
* the Moon/Pluto square today brings correction through confrontation…watch for outbursts, temper tantrums, defiance, displays of willful resistance, or other bullying or “strong man” tactics
* the Moon/Pluto square purge, releases, heals as it dredges the depths
* the hosts of this square, Mars and Saturn, are engaging in a trine right now, which means the confrontation, intensity, and depth of today’s Moon/Pluto dynamic may lead to a constructive marshaling of one’s energy and resources
* bringing someone or something difficult or unruly under control is an artform…too much pressure and the bull sits down…too little and the bull won’t move…getting the best out of someone or something usually entails knowing how to motivate without deceiving or manipulating…
* The 15th hexagram of the I Ching is called “Modesty,” and it depicts that which is high or great being emptied in order to benefit or serve that which is “below.” If someone is powerful, but modest and humble, they shine with the light of wisdom. If someone is “lowly” and yet they cling to humility and modesty, they gain the magnanimity of those “above.” In this way, hexagram 15 is one of the only hexagrams of the entire 64 that features all auspiciousness in each line. It is a promise of success, regardless of one’s position, if one clings to humility or due to one’s humility.
* The 6th line of hexagram 15 is one of the more puzzling and enigmatic philosophical lines of any in the I Ching. This is because it is a yin line at the top and would typically represent an ending or sweet resolution, like a nice retirement party or the “glow of the setting sun.” However, in this case, the advice of the line is to mobilize the multitudes or to engage in military action.
* One commentator writes, “A person who is really sincere in his modesty must make it show in reality. He or she must proceed with great energy in this. When enmity arises nothing is easier than to lay blame on another. A weak person takes offense perhaps, and draws back, feeling self-pity; he thinks that it is modesty that keeps him from defending himself. Genuine modesty sets one to creating order and inspires one to begin by disciplining one’s own ego and one’s immediate circle. Only through having the courage to marshal one’s armies against oneself, will something forceful really be achieved.”
* In other words, modesty does not mean inaction. Humility does not mean apathy, weakness, or secret self-righteous resentment. Not at all!
* The fruits of humility and modesty mobilize our energy and help us to create healthy structures, healthy social lives, healthy spiritual practices, healthy homes and families, healthy communities.
* In this regard, a famous Confucian scholar, Zhu Xi once said of this line, “The content of military strategy and tactics includes humility as well. It is to retreat in order to advance that brings about triumph.”
* Alfred Huang cites the Tao Te Ching in relation to this line: “If a great country treats a smaller country with humility, it will gain the obedience of the smaller country. If a small country treats a great country with humility, it will obtain the magnanimity of the great country. Therefore one benefits by becoming humble; the other benefits by being humble.”
* Today’s 15th hexagram reading also changed and once more brought back hexagram 54, “The Marrying Maiden.” Again, depicting a situation where we are asked to accept a somewhat lowly or subordinate position rather than grasping or groping for power or the object of our desire, no matter how much we feel we may deserve it, no matter how unfair we may feel our position is.
* The “marshaling” of one’s energy, resources, and activities, toward a positive outcome, regardless of one’s current position, is achieved through humility. Not a passive, weak, or ineffective humility, but a humility that gets the job done without making demands or power moves. Humility’s attraction is that great.
* If we want to change others, organize or mobilize others around us, we have to walk our talk, and we have to motivate others by virtue of our modesty. This is a good lesson for the Moon in Aries square to Pluto in Capricorn today…a lesson we may easily bang our heads on a few times today if we’re not careful. 🙂
* Put in another way: modesty is the love of God’s strength, shining bashfully through the individual that has been empowered to work quietly but effectively as its instrument. This is why Jesus included the admonition to love God with all of thy “strength.”
Prayer: Help us to be active in our smallness. Where we meet resistance may we come to recognize your strength, and fall in quiet but determined love.
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