I Ching, Yijing or Zhou Yi
"Oracle of the moon": © 2000 LiSe
Yi Jing, Oracle of the Moon
Pĭ, hexagram 12
To say no
Saying no seems a negative thing, but without the art of saying no one is a victim of everything that one passes on one’s road. But receiving a ‘no’, being denied something – even those are necessary things in life. They make one strong, one learns there are borders and best of all: one learns to cope with them or to overcome them.
The right reaction to a ‘no’ or the power to overcome obstacles are the base of a strong character. Saying no is the prerequisite for individuality, for inner peace and for a rich and creative existence. In a world of duality one needs strong borders.
Sometimes you need a time of no. After a hectic time with worldy pursuits, you need to say no and care for yourself, and then 12 feels like a clear glass of water after a hot dusty day.
PI3: The ideogram is a sprouting seedling,
BU4, still below the surface of the earth. Or maybe unable to
come up, or even cut off (1). Its meaning is 'not' or 'no'. And a mouth
KOU3 (2), together: to say no. According to others, 1 is a
soaring bird.
PI3: go against, oppose (heaven’s will), bad, obstruct,
wicked, evil, clogged, stopped. On W-Zhou bronzes (sometimes written
PI3) with the meaning grand, vast, receive with respect, good, serious,
concur with orders.
Pronounced fou3: no, not, to deny.
The trigrams: Earth below Heaven.
Heaven and Earth do not interact: obstruction.
The noble one holds back his virtue and avoids disaster.
He does not allow honor by an official salary.