There’s something appropriate about Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet beginning on the day of Halloween.
“Coming to meet” is about meeting a situation or person halfway, but not to the point of compromising our higher ideals or inner dignity.
Wilhelm’s commentary notes that the “inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power.” We need to be aware of flattery and seduction, as they may be attempts at seizing power.
Taking care to see beneath the superficial, and not fully trusting, is in keeping with the nature of Scorpio, the season in which Halloween falls.
Halloween, even amidst the fun, has long come with an element of suspicion. Back when I was a kid there was worry of razor blades and other nefarious things being put into the candy. There was paranoia regarding the possibility of receiving “tricks.” Today parents are more selective about which homes they let their children go to for trick-or- treating.
Regarding power and suspicion, I’m currently rereading The 48 Laws of Power of Robert Greene as a way of better understanding the power aspect of the Pluto archetype. There are also Scorpio themes throughout, including this one that pertains to today’s topic: “People are of infinite complexity and you can spend a lifetime watching them without ever fully understanding them. So it is all the more important, then, to begin your education now. In doing so you must also keep one principle in mind: Never discriminate as to whom you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and study everyone, including friends and loved ones.”
That reminds me of my favorite Robert Greene quote, which I appreciate as an enthusiast of personality typology and astrology: “Make understanding people a fun game, the solving of puzzles. It is all part of the human comedy. Yes, people are irrational, but so are you. Make your acceptance of human nature as radical as possible. This will calm you down and help you observe people more dispassionately, understanding them on a deeper level. You will stop projecting your own emotions on to them. All of this will give you more balance and calmness, more mental space for thinking.”
We’ll still have three planets in Scorpio in this next week: the Sun, Mercury, and Mars. Eclipse season is over until April. Whew. Saturn will end its retrograde and turn direct. Conditions are right for dispassionate observations, solving people puzzzles, and understanding others – and yourself – on a deeper level.
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References:
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm
