“Danger surrounds you.  Learn to live with it with patience and you will not only survive, but also prosper. from the I Ching

29 – Twenty-Nine.  K’an / Dangerously Deep

Water follows Water, spilling over any cliff, flowing past all obstacles, no matter the depth or distance, to the Sea.
The Superior Person learns flexibility from the mistakes he has made, and grows strong from the obstacles he has overcome, pressing on to show others the Way.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are facing a crucial trial along your Journey.
The danger of this challenge is very real.
It is a test of your mettle.
If you can maintain your integrity and stay true to your convictions, you will overcome.
That’s not as easy as it seems when you are faced with the sacrifice of other things you’ve come to depend upon or hold dear.

Nine in the second place means:

This dark pit you find yourself in is rife with traps and pitfalls.
Don’t scramble toward freedom, but concentrate on one small toehold at a time.​

The abyss is dangerous.
One should strive to attain small things only.

When we are in danger we ought not to attempt to get out of it immediately, regardless of circumstances; at first we must content ourselves with not being overcome by it. We must calmly weigh the conditions of the time and be satisfied with small gains, because for the time being a great success cannot be attained. A spring flows only sparingly at first, and tarries for some time before it makes its way into the open.

Alma-Tadema
self portrait

1. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (January 8, 1836, Dronrijp, the Netherlands – June 25, 1912 Wiesbaden, Germany) was one of the most renowned painters of late nineteenth century Britain.

Born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there.
A classical-subject painter, he became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky.

Universally admired for his superb draftsmanship and depictions of Classical antiquity, during his lifetime, he fell into disrepute after his death and only in the last thirty years has his work been reevaluated for its importance within nineteenth-century English art.

14 – Fourteen.  Ta Yu / Great Treasures

The Fire of clarity illuminates the Heavens to those below:
The Superior Person possesses great inner treasures — compassion, economy, and modesty.
These treasures allow the benevolent will of Heaven to flow through him outward to curb evil and to further good.

Supreme success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You have become an instrument of Heaven’s will, offering a balance in the world around you.
It is not swashbuckling prowess or uncanny talent that qualifies you for this office, but your simplest gifts — your modesty, your compassion, your economy.
Because you can see clearly who most needs a miracle, Heaven’s bounty is being put at your disposal.