Thanks for your comments. Just for the record, I never said Wing’s Workbook was “great,” just that I’d been using it for a long time. As it happens, Wing is excellent: very level headed and embracing of uncertainty, which is find an admirable quality. Also, I think you’re reading the I Ching in a very narrow, traditional way. The Marrying Maiden certainly is about pimping women, and has a twofold interpretation. This is evident in lines 3 and four. But more on that soon in the second part of the essay. –Brian

The hexagram #54, the Marrying Maiden isn’t at all about pimping women –not even slightly.
It is as you say, a person who is in favor, but not in power.
She or he appeals to the “ruler” not just sexually, but there are feelings of affection that exist absolutely–but no true marriage contract, as in the 1st wife’s arrangement.
It makes sense..he or she can’t decide what others should do, can’t even decide much what she/he should do, but can as you say wait, and fit in, knowing his/her place is important, but not outwardly and w/o announcing it.

Btw, just for thought/information.As a recovering sex and love addict myself, I think the #61 line 3, and the #36 was probably suggesting that you would rise and fall as a woman appealed to you, but it gave her or the relationship your power .
If she disappeared or slighted you, evne temporaily you’d have very little else tohold you up.
The ‘hiding your light under a bushel” in #36 makes sense in the way you descirbed it.My thought was that it was telling you that no matter how many women you met, loved or slept with –what you were looking for was’nt really in them.:-)

http://www.yitoons.com/yicards/yicard54.jpg

I would like to address Desmond’s comment: IMO, we have the illusion of individuality only because we live within the bubble of an endless internal dialogue with ourselves. We are, however, the acting participants, and occasional victims, of our social environment. You are much more likely to be–scrap that, “you will be”–influenced in your decisions by said environment than by any oracular tool you may use. However, the tool, as used tête–à–tête, will allow you, and grant you the opportunity, to enhance your internal dialogue and thus your “individuality” in decision making. In the end, you will always be responsible for, and held accountable for, your decisions, regardless of what influenced them. If I have the opportunity though, I rather use all the tools available at my disposal to have a fair chance of success. That includes the Yijing and not just my immediate exterior environment.

Bear also in mind that the Yijing is not a deterministic oracle. It is more of a map; a flowchart: you’ll still have every opportunity to follow any path you want, albeit with a few warning signs in-between.

Best,

L

I wasn’t trying to pass judgment so much as chew on the opposite readings of The Marrying Maiden from matriarchal and patriarchal points of view. In the latter, one is a slave to another’s desire, whim or agenda. In the former, the self exerts its prerogative to wait for love. That’s a mighty forceful contradiction; like an engine, it makes my head spin round! I guess I could have been clearer, so thanks for spurring further thinking on the matter. — Brian

My only qualm with that is that it appears to show a dichotomy (”matriarchal” and “patriarchal”) that doesn’t really exist in the essence of the Yijing. IMO, those are little semantic and philological traps built into the text that can lead to misinterpretations. Most of the time, we derive those meanings based on our cultural background (a mighty risk of that while using and interpreting any Eastern sacred text in the West and vice-versa) No implicit fault there but, collective objectivity doesn’t really exist; it is rather collective “subjectivity” what dominates our opinions–if we allow it… Hence the suggestion of projection and empathy before diving into the interpretation of the oracle. Dipping a finger in the water will save you from a scalding… I believe that one of the basic tenets of the Yijing is that integration, not dichotomy, is the leading force behind “Change,” as it is presented, conceptually, in the Classic.

I’ll say this with admiration and not an ounce of disrespect, but your mention of “love” and the implicit dichotomy of “matriarchal” vs “patriarchal,” whereby the former is presented as the “kinder” side of the coin, shows your background and involvement in poetry (mind you, I don’t know you at all but basing my opinion on what I’ve read here in your site and posts. I apologize if I’m mistaken.) Historically though, the facts do not fully support a romanticized view of the many Emperors and Dynasties of China. Power, wielded by either a man or a woman, is power imposed on others. Historically, women in positions of power, from Empress down, were anything but “kinder” than their male counterparts… Perhaps, the argument can be made that they were working and manipulating from within a “patriarchal” society but, from my point of view, a woman in such a position of power, and her deeds thereof, is not a masculinized version of herself… (Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits aside, of course. LOL!)

Best,

Luis