An empty lake is the image of oppression for Hexagram 47 of the I Ching.
The other image for this hexagram is of trees growing in a tight space and being unable to spread their branches. This symbolizes those times when we are trapped and isolated or feel like we can’t reach out to others.
There is some encouragement here for us in this image, however, as Hilary Barrett writes in her translation of Hexagram 47: “The great person finds good fortune in constancy to an inner ideal. This is the supreme test of character: whether you can hold to your purpose when there is no encouragement, no confirmation from outside, but only your own inner resources. The lack of outward signs of progress does not mean that you are wrong or that the world is wrong. Rather than resenting the walls, concentrate on the life and growth within them.”
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to pause again and enthuse about how much I like that the I Ching uses imagery from nature.
Astrology does, too, with animals being the symbols of several of the signs, the four elements of air, water, earth, and fire, the effects of the Moon and Sun, and so on, but it’s easier to overlook this. That is why I often advise astrology students to frequently step away from the astrology books and videos and develop an experiential relationship with astrology. One practice I recommend is tracking the daily movements of the Moon and seeing how they play out in your daily life.
Anyway, we are in a mercurial time of year with it being Virgo season hosted by Mercury.* Mercury likes to look at the parts of things and is into being analytical and theoretical. It and can suffer from paralysis by analysis, which is but one way we can oppress ourselves.
From a typology perspective, this is like the axis of introverted thinking (seeking understanding above all) with its opposite of extraverted feeling (connecting with the feelings of others).
Jupiter, the opposite of Mercury, is, among other things, known as a “remover of oppression,” as author Robert E. Svoboda describes it. It prefers cohesive wholes rather than breaking things into parts and analyzing them.
Jupiter is considered to be in exile in Virgo, which reminds us of that tension of opposites between Mercury and Jupiter. That doesn’t mean we should try to dial down the Mercury in our lives right now or lean more on Jupiter. In sessions with clients I often say astrology isn’t about “shoulds.” Rather, it’s simply about becoming more conscious of those opposites, letting them be, and thereby becoming more at peace with the tension.
Above all, our inner guidance can help us during times of oppression. As Jungian analyst James Hollis says: “Something in us always knows what is right for us and is undertaking measures to bring that confluence of will and nature about, even as it may be oppressed by the burdens and incursions of the outer world or opposed by our behaviors and treatment plans.”
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References:
I Ching: Walking Your Path, Creating Your Future by Hilary Barrett
Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times by James Hollis
The Greatness of Saturn by Robert Svoboda
*The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese text, are arranged along the ecliptic (the celestial equator) in Human Design. In astrology there are 12 zodiac signs along the ecliptic, so there are 5.3 hexagrams per zodiac sign. I’m contemplating these hexagrams as a way to engage with astrology, the I Ching, and Jungian psychology.
