Hexagram 54

GUĪ MÈI

Marrying maiden

Marrying Maiden, to set things right: pitfall
No ground for harvest

The great image says:
Thunder over the lake, a maiden marries
The noble one through the eternity of the end understands the transitory


Thunder
Lake

day 22 of a yin moon

  Make the place where you live to be your place, even if it was not your own choice. And make yourself an essential part of this place. So you belong. Your life is the entire life. If the grass is greener somewhere else, then you let your life get lost. And the people you live with, lose you.
  Make thís grass green, fill in your place, give coordinates to your life. An unlimited life does not make you exist, but a limited one makes a big presence.
  Whatever you do, "be" what you do, live in its center. It is the advice of the old Indian: if you want to hunt deer, then become a deer and live in the forest.

More about 53 and 54

 

  GUI: at the top is gui. Its meaning is 'return to your home', like the maiden who goes to the home which will be hers. It is often used for dying: returning home.
  The part at left (1) is mound, or rolling, waving, or it might be some ceremonial object, but the meaning is not certain, . It can also mean buttocks or testes, it is also part of 'shi', hex.7, and there its meaning is 'military'. Later a foot was added (2), for the meaning 'return'.
Its right part, fu (3), looks like a broom, but its meaning is 'lady of nobility', so probably it is some kind of ornamental attribute. Maybe indicating her rank or descent.
  It gives a nice image for 'marrying': a procession from her home to his, he with his attributes and she with hers.
  GUI: return, go to, bring to, go as a bride to the new home, die. 
MEI: the left side is Wei4: (3 and 4) a picture of a luxuriant tree. Its original meaning was 'abundant', and it is also the 8th Earthly Branch (late summer, animal is sheep). Now its meaning is 'not yet' and my opinion is, that it indicated the time of year when everything was at its maximum development, but fruit were not yet ripe. Also a very good description of a young girl who is almost a woman. The right side is a kneeling woman (5), sometimes with emphasis on the head (6).
MEI: younger sister. A secondary wife is also called thus.

 
6 at 3: The marrying maiden waits. Returns and marries as secondary wife.
All things come to the one who can wait. Who craves for something will take the first-best for granted, who stays in his own dignity will get the one with dignity.
(Changes to hex.34)

Above 6: The maiden receives a basket without substance; the young man stabs a sheep without blood. No ground for harvest.
Only show is not enough, it has to be real. Words and deeds need truth, without that even the most beautiful ones will stay shallow and meaningless. This goes for every single aspect of life, even the smallest thought or gesture needs truth and sincerity.
(Changes to hex.38)

 
9 at 2: Dim-eyed yet able to see. Harvest: determination of a hermit.
 Make your life not bigger than you are yourself. Its richness does not depend on its size, but on your presence in it. If you fill in your territory everywhere to its borders, it is a greater life than an unlimited space which is not full.
(Changes to hex.51)

6 at 5: Di Yi marries off his younger sister. The primary wife's sleeves are not like the fine sleeves of the secondary wife. The moon is not quite full: auspicious.
Don't demand the best place, recognition, perfection - not from others and not from yourself. Just show your value, and you will earn your rightful place. If your value is part of you, no one can take it away.
 (Changes to hex.58)

 

Initial 9 : The marrying maiden as secondary wife. Lame yet able to walk. To set things right: auspicious.
 Live and act within the borders of your life, or the borders of this situation. Only then your life will be satisfactory, or your mind relaxed. Striving for more than comes naturally causes stress, failure and contention. Not every promotion should be accepted, very often the highest place is not at all the best one.
(Changes to hex.40)

 

 9 at 4: The marrying maiden exceeds the allotted time. A late marriage at the right time.
Don’t do things when you ‘want’ or ‘ought’ to do them, but when those things or the time say it is the right moment. Because you will have success when it is THE right moment and not YOUR right moment.
(Changes to hex.19)
The Sabian Symbols for the hexagram-lines
6 at 3 corresponds to c 22: A royal coat of arms
Some people have inborn royalty		 Above 6 corresponds to i 22: A man bringing down the new law from Sinai
9 at 2 corresponds to a 22: A woman awaiting a sailboat
 If your life is the waiting, you live. If it is the boat, you don't. 		6 at 5 corresponds to g 22: A general accepting defeat gracefully
Initial 9 corresponds to _ 22: White dove over troubled waters

9 at 4 corresponds to e 22: Hunters starting out for ducks
 Right time, right place, if you want any catch

 
For the meaning of  Eminent - expansion. Harvest - determination click HERE
Line 1. 'Set things right' can also be translated as 'going on an expedition' or 'chastising'.
Line 5. Di Yi is the father of Zhou Xin, the one conquered by (Wen and) Wu. His younger sister is probably Wen's mother (Marshall, 'Mandate of heaven')