Other titles: Biting Through, Gnawing, The Symbol of Mastication and Punishment by Pressing and Squeezing, Gnawing Bite, Severing, Chewing, Punishment, Reformation, Reform, Differentiation, Discrimination, Making a Distinction, Getting the message "Something which should be, or has to be bitten through. This is essentially the legal hexagram. When asking about a man's intentions, he is probably married." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Success is found in Discernment. The restrictions of the law bring advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Biting Through has success. It is favorable to let justice be administered.
Blofeld: Gnawing. Success! The time is favorable for legal processes. [The concept of gnawing is suggested by the component trigrams, which are regarded (owing to the arrangement of their lines) as not commingling; they are as separate from each other as the upper and lower jaw when something tough is being gnawed.]
Liu: Chewing: Success. It benefits to administer justice. [Chewing indicates success through hard work. Those who get this hexagram will have trouble in the beginning.]
Ritsema/Karcher:Gnawing Bite, Growing. Harvesting: availing of litigating. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confronting a tenacious obstacle. It emphasizes that biting through and picking things clean until the essential is revealed is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: gnaw and bite through!]
Shaughnessy: Biting and chewing: Receipt; beneficial to use a court case.
Cleary (1):Biting through is developmental. It is beneficial to administer justice.
Cleary (2): Biting through is successful. It is beneficial to apply justice.
Wu: Discernment is pervasive. It will be advantageous to exact punishments.
The Image
Legge: The images of thunder and lightning form Discernment. Thus the ancient kings promulgated their laws and framed their penalties with intelligence.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder and lightning: The image of Biting Through. Thus the kings of former times made firm the laws through clearly defined penalties.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes lightning accompanied by thunder. The ancient rulers, after making their legal code perfectly clear to all, enforced the laws vigorously. [The firm and yielding lines more or less alternate; or the lower trigram can be regarded as filled with the power of thunderous force, while the upper trigram, representing beauty, is soft and yielding. (Li, the upper trigram, stands for lightning as well as for fire, beauty, etc.) I do not know what the ancient Chinese views on thunder and lightning were; it appears from this that they were regarded as two forces which, like steel and flint, emitted brilliance when brought into sharp contact with each other. A pair of trigrams both with yielding centers is not felt to be a good arrangement; that it nevertheless favors the process of the law may have been suggested to the writer of the Text by the fact that the weak lines (morally weak people?) are fully contained by the strong (prison walls, warders and so forth?)]
Liu: Thunder and lightning symbolize Chewing. The ancient kings made the laws and clarified the penalties.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, lightning. Gnawing Bite. The Earlier Kings used brightening flogging to enforce the laws.
Cleary (1): Thunder and lightning, biting through. Thus did the kings of yore clarify penalties and proclaim laws. [Those who administer laws should emulate the ancient kings in first clarifying them before executing them, in order to avoid mistakenly injuring life.]
Wu: Thunder and lightning form Discernment. Thus the ancient kings made just punishments and upheld the law of the land.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The existence of something between the jaws gives rise to the name Discernment-- union by means of biting through the intervening article. The dynamic and magnetic lines are equally divided in the figure. Movement is denoted by the lower trigram, and Clarity by the upper -- thunder and lightning uniting in them, and having brilliant manifestation. The magnetic fifth line is in the center, and acts in her high position. Although she is not in her proper place, this is advantageous for the use of legal constraints.
Legge: Discernment means literally "union by gnawing." The figure consists of undivided lines in the top, bottom and fourth places -- giving the image of open jaws with something in them "being gnawed." When the object has been bitten through, the upper and lower jaws come together in union -- hence: " Union by gnawing." Remove the obstacles to union and high and low will meet together in understanding. The force exerted by gnawing suggests the idea of legal constraints.
The equal division of the dynamic and magnetic lines is seen by taking them in pairs, though the order of the first pair is different from the other two. The magnetic fifth line is the ruler of the hexagram, indicating that judgment is tempered by leniency.
Ch'eng-tzu says that thunder and lightning are always found together, and hence their trigrams go together to give the idea of union intended in Discernment: one trigram symbolizing majesty and the other intelligence.
Cleary (1): Practice of the Tao is like administering justice: Discerning true and false, right and wrong, is like the judge deciding good and bad; getting rid of falsehood and keeping truth, so as to preserve essence and life, is like the [just] administration rewarding the good and punishing the bad, so as to alleviate the burden of injustice.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Further the Work through careful Discernment between what is true and false, right and wrong, correct and incorrect.
The Image portrays the connection between cause and effect, where consequences are always based on the inexorable laws of nature.
To bite is to comprehend, and to bite through is to make distinctions. The top and bottom lines of the hexagram represent the upper and lower jaws, and both bear images of restriction and punishment. Each of the lines between them portrays some version of biting through flesh. Hence, the jaws define the general problem, and the teeth differentiate the details.
The symbol of losing teeth has the primitive meaning of losing one's grip because under primitive circumstances and in the animal kingdom, the teeth and mouth are the gripping organ. If one loses teeth, one loses the grip on something. Now this can mean a loss of self-control, etc. The English word grip is contained in the German word begriff (conception or notion). The Latin word conceptio means the same, i.e., catching hold of something, having a grip on something.
Jung -- Letters
In I Ching symbolism, the "ancient kings” are always synonymous with spiritual authority. Analogous to gods or cosmic forces, their "laws" are like the laws of karma or of nature -- inexorable in their outcome. Therefore, the punishment theme in the hexagram warns us that a lack of Discernment in the matter at hand has built-in penalties: i.e., "Get the message or suffer the consequences.”
Behold, sin and punishment are one, and the fire of punishment is the fire that refines my works. Even in the sinner I am the actor, and I, too, am the sufferer in the experience of punishment.
P.F. Case -- The Book of Tokens
To receive this hexagram without changing lines indicates a need to make some important distinctions in the matter at hand. “Figure it out” might make a good alternate title at such times. Cleary’s Taoist note on the image (“Those who administer laws should emulate the ancient kings in first clarifying them before executing them, in order to avoid mistakenly injuring life”) is a clear admonition to get all of your facts straight before proceeding with your inquiry. That you don’t know or understand something is implied.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The twenty-first hexagram turned upside down becomes the twenty-second. The message for the superior man in the Image of each concerns the enforcement of law. What is the relationship between Discernmentand Persona in such a context? The component trigrams of these two figures also make up hexagrams number fifty-five, Expansion of Awareness and number fifty-six, Transition.The messages for the superior man in each of these figures also relate to litigation. Why? What do the four hexagrams suggest about the nature of the Work?
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows one with his feet in the stocks and deprived of his toes. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: His feet are fastened in the stocks so that his toes disappear. No blame.
Blofeld: The feet are shackled so that they may not walk -- no error is involved! [This line suggests that extreme firmness would not be culpable at this time.]
Liu: His feet are put in the stocks. It will injure his toes. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Shoes locked-up, submerging the feet. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Wearing stocks on the feet and with cut off feet; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Wearing stocks stopping the feet, there is no blame.
Wu: He wears a pair of shackles, which covers his toes. There is no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: There is no walking to do evil. Wilhelm/Baynes: He cannot walk. Blofeld: This method is used to prevent evil-doers from progressing in their wickedness. Ritsema/Karcher: Not moving indeed. Cleary (2): Means not acting. Wu: The light punishment warns him not to walk the wrong path again.
The Master said:The inferior man is not ashamed of what is not benevolent, nor does he fear to do what is not righteous. Without the prospect of gain he does not stimulate himself to what is good, nor does he correct himself without being moved. Self-correction, however, in what is small will make him careful in what would be of greater consequence; and this is the happiness of the inferior man. It is said in the I Ching, "His feet are in the stocks, and he is disabled in his toes - there will be no further occasion for blame."
Legge: The first and last lines of the hexagram are undergoing punishment which is inflicted by the other lines. Line one's offense is minor, and he is confined to the stocks to prevent him from making it worse.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man receives a mild sentence as a warning for a small offense.
Wing: Since this is only your first departure from the right path, only a mild punishment is forthcoming. This should serve the purpose of early Reform.
Editor: To be deprived of one's toes is to be unable to move -- the toes (or feet in some translations) are found in seven hexagrams, and all but one appear in the first line which indicates the beginning of movement. The idea is to nip a bad choice in the bud before it gains momentum. Sometimes the line can refer to circumstances beyond one's control which prevent one from taking an ill-considered or harmful action.
Even the venerable Church Fathers had to admit that evil is not only unavoidable but actually necessary in order to avert a greater evil... Punishment is also an evil and just as much a transgression as crime. It is simply the crime of society against the crime of the individual. And this evil, too, is unavoidable and necessary.
Jung --LettersA. You are held fast to prevent mistakes. Comprehension or growth is effected through restricted circumstances.
B. Circumstances impede or prevent action.
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows one gnawing the flesh dried on the bone, and getting the pledges of money and arrows. It will be advantageous for him to realize the difficulty of his task and be firm -- in which case there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Bites on dried gristly meat. Receives metal arrows. It furthers one to be mindful of difficulties and to be persevering. Good fortune.
Blofeld: Gnawing dried meat on the bone, he found a metal arrow-head embedded in it -- remaining determined in spite of difficulties will bring good fortune!
Liu: By chewing on dried gristle one gains golden arrows. Firmness and hard work benefit. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Gnawing parched meat-bones. Acquiring a metallic arrow. Harvesting: drudgery, Trial. Significant.
Shaughnessy: Biting dry preserved meat, and getting a metal arrowhead; determination about difficulty is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Biting bony dried meat, one gets the wherewithal to proceed. It
is beneficial to work hard and be upright: this leads to good results.
Wu: He bites dried bony meat and gets a golden arrow. There will be good fortune if he realizes the advantage of being firm in a difficult time. [With inference (Sic) to what he is biting, he also has a hard time reaching his verdict… The Confucian Commentary is somewhat critical of his ability.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His light has not yet been sufficiently displayed. Wilhelm/Baynes: He does not yet give light. Blofeld: However, no ray of the good fortune here indicated is visible as yet. [Whatever good fortune is on its way to us is not visible as yet. In other words, the situation looks more gloomy than it is, so we must follow our course with firmness.] Ritsema/Karcher: Not yet shining indeed. Wu: Because he has not shown brilliance.
Legge: Of old in a civil case, both parties brought to the court an arrow in testimony of their rectitude, after which they were heard. In a criminal case they in the same way each deposited thirty pounds of gold, or some other metal. The fourth-line judge who receives these pledges is responsible for "gnawing through” a difficult case and rendering a just verdict. Though dynamic, he is in a magnetic place, and hence the cautionary warning. "His light has not been sufficiently displayed" means that there is still something for him to do. He has to realize the difficulty of his position and be firm.
Anthony: Here we begin to see success in our effort to punish: the other person begins to relate to us correctly. But, this is only a first step; we must avoid the temptation to rush back to a comfortable and careless relationship that would collapse our work. Our tendency is either to be steeled in perseverance or relaxed in an easy relationship with others. If we can, instead, be neutral and persevering, be neither soft nor hard, but open, cautious and careful, we will “bite through” the obstacles to a correct fellowship with others.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Great obstacles in the form of strong opponents require the man to
make difficult judgments. All goes well if he cautiously perseveres.
Wing: The task facing you is indeed difficult. That which you must overcome is in a powerful position. Be firm and persevering once you begin. Good results come only by being alert and exercising continuous effort.
Editor: The fourth yang line is the object being gnawed in the pictorial symbolism of the hexagram. Flesh: Meat, food, nourishment -- the raw material, data or experience of the situation. Dried: Tough, hard to chew and digest -- difficult to differentiate, sort-out or comprehend. Metal:Metal usually symbolizes the mental faculties -- intellect, discernment, etc. It can also refer to allied components of the psyche, such as the will, as in: "He has a will of iron.”Arrow: The arrow has associations similar to the sword -- the discriminating function. To shoot an arrow into the heart of the matter is to pierce its essence, to comprehend it completely. Light: (From Confucian commentary): Clarity, comprehension, understanding. Overall, the implication is that you are not yet clear-minded enough to deal decisively with the situation at hand.
Jung's development of new symbolic categories can be compared with a similar approach initiated by the modern physicist. In both cases the subject matter defies comprehension in accustomed rational categories; hence symbolic "working models" or working hypotheses, such as the archetype or the atom, had to be set up in order to describe as adequately as possible the way an otherwise indescribable unknown acts in the world of matter.
E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic QuestA. Although you do not understand the situation completely, in dealing with it you will receive the insights needed for its resolution. Proceed with the awareness of difficulty.
B. The answer is implicit within the question.
C. Figure it out for yourself.
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows one gnawing at dried flesh, and finding the yellow gold. Let her be firm and correct, realizing the peril of her position. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Bites on dried lean meat. Receives yellow gold. Perseveringly aware of danger. No blame.
Blofeld: While gnawing dried meat, he encountered a piece of gold embedded in it -- unwavering determination now will bring down trouble, but no error is involved. [If we persist with our plans, trouble will arise; the only comfort we can take is that we shall not be to blame for it.]
Liu: By chewing the dried meat one gains gold. To continue is dangerous. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Gnawing parched meat. Acquiring yellow metal. Trial: adversity. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Biting dry meat and meeting with poison; determination is dangerous; there is no trouble.
Cleary (2): Biting dry meat, finding gold, if one is upright and diligent there will be no blame.
Wu: He bites dried meat and gets yellow gold. He will have no error if he remains perseverant in such a critical situation. [What he bites suggests he still has a hard time simply because he is not strong-minded. A softhearted person vested with the authority of a judge should be perseverant in impartiality.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She will possess every quality appropriate to her position and task. Wilhelm/Baynes: She has found what is appropriate. Blofeld: That we shall not be to blame for the trouble is indicated by the suitable position of this line. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring the appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): This is finding what is appropriate. Wu: Because he acts properly.
Legge: The fifth line represents the ruler and judge. As it is a magnetic line, she will be disposed to leniency, and her judgments will be correct. This is shown by her finding the "yellow metal." (Yellow is one of the five "correct" colors.) The position is in the center, but because the line is magnetic, a caution is given, as under the previous line.
Anthony: We would like to be lenient, but our job is to be impartial. To accept an alliance merely because the other person wants it, while they are not firmly committed to being correct, would be wrong. They must realize, through their own perception, that correctness is the only path to an alliance, and that spiritual growth is the source of unity that endures.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: A clear-cut case meets with difficulty because of a tendency to be lenient. The man must be as true as gold and as impartial as the mean.
Wing: Even though there are few alternatives, a decision is difficult to make. Once you choose the course you will take, do not waver from your decision. Remain aware of the dangers and in this way you will surmount them.
Editor: Flesh: Meat, food, nourishment -- the raw material, data or experience of the situation at hand. Dried: Tough, difficult to chew and digest -- difficult to sort out, comprehend or accept as true. Yellow:Color of the mean, of the sun -- suggests wisdom which comes from clarity, balanced perception. Gold: The supreme treasure, Divine Intelligence, truth.
When a man sins, good and evil are intermingled. A legal opinion is a clear separation between the permitted and the forbidden, the clean and the unclean. When you study religious law, good is once again separated from the evil and the sin is rectified.
Rabbi Nachman of BreslovA. Sorting out a complex issue involves difficulty, but success is possible -- you have the resources to comprehend the matter.
B. Success lies in making a hard choice.
Other titles: View, The Symbol of Steady Observation, Looking Down, Observation, Viewing, Looking Up, Observing, Admiration, To Examine, Rulers and Their Subjects, Introspection, Perception, Contemplation of the Work
Judgment
Legge: Contemplation shows us a worshipper who has purified himself, but must still present his sacrifice with that dignified sincerity which inspires reverence.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation . The ablution has been made, but not yet the offering. Full of trust they look up to him.
Blofeld: Lookingdown.[This word often means “contemplation" and I have so translated it when the context so requires.] The ablution has been performed, but not the sacrifice. Sincerity inspires respect. [This is generally understood to mean that the first step has been taken or that one has bound oneself to follow a certain course...but that the main duties are yet to be performed.]
Liu:Observation. The hand-washing ritual is completed, but the sacrifice is still to come. All done and looked upon with sincerity.
Ritsema/Karcher:Viewing: hand-washing and-also not worshipping. Possessing conformity, like a presence. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something seen from a distance, out of immediate reach. It emphasizes that carefully observing and divining the meaning is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Looking Up. Washing the hands but not making offering; there is a return with head held high.
Cleary (1): Observing, one has washed the hands but not made the offering; there is sincerity, which is reverent.
Wu:Admiration indicates a worshipper washing his hands in preparation for the offerings, but not participating in it. He shows sincerity and awe.
The Image
Legge: The image of earth and wind moving above it form Contemplation. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, examined the different regions of the kingdom to see the ways of the people, and set forth their instructions.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind blows over the earth: the image of Contemplation. Thus the kings of old visited the regions of the world, contemplated the people, and gave them instruction.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the earth. The ancient rulers visited the different regions to keep watch over their people and carefully instruct them.
Liu: The wind blowing over the earth symbolizes Observation. The ancient kings visited their territories, observed the people, and gave instruction.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moving above earth. Viewing. The Earlier Kings used inspecting on-all-sides, viewing the commoners to set-up teaching.
Cleary (1): Wind is over the earth, observing. Thus did the kings of yore set up education after examination of the region and observation of the people.
Cleary (2): Wind travels over the earth – observing.Kings of yore examined the regions and observed the people to set up education. [In Buddhist terms, the ancient Buddhas examined the “regions” of possible experience and observed the people in various states of being, then set up various teachings to accommodate them, just as the wind travels over the earth reaching everywhere.]
Wu: The wind pervades above the earth; this is Admiration. Thus the ancient kings inspected various regions of the country, observed the sentiments of the people, and laid down their instructions.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Observation from above -- from the trigram of Flexibility surmounting the trigram of Docility. The ruler is in his correct central position, and thus exhibits his lessons to all below. He has purified himself, but not yet sacrificed. All beneath look to him and are transformed. When we contemplate the spirit-like way of heaven, we see how the four seasons proceed without error. The sages, in accordance with this spirit-like way, laid down their instructions, and all under heaven yield submission to them.
Legge: The Chinese character from which this hexagram is named is used in the sense of both seeing and being seen. The theme is the sovereign and his people -- how he shows himself to them, and how they in turn perceive him. The two dynamic lines at the top belong to the ruler, and the four magnetic lines below represent his subjects. In the Judgment the ruler is portrayed as a worshipper at the commencement of a sacrifice. He is the great Manifester in line five.
The lower trigram symbolizes earth, with the attribute of Docility; the upper trigram symbolizes wind, with the attributes of Flexibility and Penetration. Wind moving above the earth has the widest sweep, and nothing escapes its influence. The personal influence of the ruler effects much, but the ancient kings wished to add to that the power of published instructions which were specially adapted to the character and circumstances of the people.
The spirit-like way of heaven is the invisible order underlying the laws of nature. [Ed. Note: Ritsema/Karcher use the phrase: "Viewing Heaven's spirit tao... The all-wise person uses spirit tao to set-up teaching." Spirit(s), SHEN: independent spiritual powers that confer intensity on heart and mind by acting on the soul, KUEI; gods, daimons. Tao: way or path; ongoing process of being and the course it traces for each specific person or thing; keyword. The ideogram: go and head, leading and the path it creates.]
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Contemplate your motivations and discern the purity of your intent. "Put your money where your mouth is.” or "Walk your talk.”
The Superior Man evaluates and rectifies his attitudes.
The "ancient kings” in the Image symbolize the creators of an original state of perfection -- an archetypal model toward which the superior man aspires. This idea is common to all mystical traditions, many of which depict this state in the image of an ideal or prototypical man. Here is a summary of the Gnostic conception:
Not only the body but also the "soul" is a product of the cosmic powers, which shaped the body in the image of the divine Primal (or Archetypal) Man and animated it with their own psychical forces: these are the appetites and passions of natural man, each of which stems from and corresponds to one of the cosmic spheres [i.e., planets] and all of which together make up the astral soul of man, his "psyche."
H. Jonas -- The Gnostic Religion
In the Kabbalah, the template of this archetypal man (named Adam Kadmon) exists in each of the four realms of consciousness corresponding to intuition, intellect, emotion and sensation, and "he" is perceived as androgynous in all of these worlds except the last -- the "sensation” world of our physical spacetime reality.
The Adam of these first three worlds was androgynous. The Adam of the fourth world is the Adam of the expulsion, the Adam of flesh traversing the desert of his exile, and the Adam capable of reproducing himself now that he is no longer androgynous.
C. Ponce -- Kabbalah
Considering that androgyny is one of the symbols used in the Western Mystery Tradition to depict the correct union of male and female forces within the psyche, we quickly recognize that the properly matched male and female correlate lines in theI Ching are a Chinese depiction of the identical concept. Note that the messages of the following three quotations are in complete accord with the goal of the Work as outlined in theI Ching:
Somewhere there is an Adam within each of us in need of restoration, in exile from the Garden. The aim of Kabbalism is the restoration of the divine man in the medium of mortal man. We are the laboratory and we are the workers who work in that space.
C. Ponce --KabbalahWithin our six-foot body we must strive for the form which existed before the laying down of heaven and earth.
The Secret of the Golden FlowerThe destiny of man is to build the Heavenly Jerusalem on Earth. In other words, to civilize a planet. It is the aim of the occultist, in consort with all men of good will, to bring about this heavenly fact into earthly reality. And the only way it will come about is by every man doing the right thing at the right time for twenty-four hours a day.
Gareth Knight -- The Work of a Modern Occult Fraternity
The ancient kings in hexagram number-20 base their laws upon their recognition of diversity among the various forces which make up the kingdom of the psyche. Their divine regulations therefore represent the proper ecology existing between heaven and earth, yin and yang, male and female, Logos and Eros. In this regard, theI Ching's version of the Archetypal Man might be seen as hexagram number-63, Completion, in which the polarity of each of the lines is in perfect correlation. (See the editor's commentary on Hexagram number 11 for further insights into this idea.)
The theme of the hexagram is Contemplationof your situation to see if your attitude meets the archetypal standards of the Work. The worshipper in the Judgment has purified himself for sacrifice but has not yet carried it out. Wilhelm uses the word "ablution” in his translation of the Judgment. An ablution is a ritual cleansing associated with a religious rite:
Ablution: In alchemy ... the adept worker achieves [success] only by purifying his soul of all that commonly agitates it. Washing, then, symbolizes the purification not so much of objective and external evil as of subjective and inner evils ... The principle involved in this alchemic process is that implied in the maxim "Deny thyself."
J. E. Cirlot --Dictionary of Symbols
It is important to note that the sacrifice has yet to be performed: preparation is meaningless until it is acted upon. Psychologically, this refers to intellectual "gnosis" which still needs to be grounded in behavior.
Wisdom is achieved very slowly. This is because intellectual knowledge, easily acquired, must be transformed into `emotional,' or subconscious, knowledge. Once transformed, the imprint is permanent. Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction. Without action, the concept will wither and fade. Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough ... Intellectually the answers have always been there, but this need to actualize by experience, to make the subconscious imprint permanent by `emotionalizing' and practicing the concept, is the key.
Brian L. Weiss, MD -- Many Lives, Many Masters
Without changing lines, Contemplation is an oracular invitation for you to consider your situation and especially your motivations in regard to it. One way of doing this is to reduce everything to a brief written statement, including your best conscious conclusions. Then ask for a comment from the oracle -- often it will become apparent that you have been undergoing a kind of examination.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The ancient kings are mentioned in the Images of both this figure and number twenty-one, Discernment, immediately following. What are the differences between Contemplation and Discernment, as depicted in these images? How does the concept of sacrifice relate to this, as mentioned in the Judgment? Compare the Judgment of this hexagram with hexagrams and lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5 and 63:5 for further insights on this extremely important tenet of the Work.