47 Exhausted - The I Ching
Exhaustion is prosperous and pure. Great people bring fortune. Talking, but not being believed.
Lines
1
Exhausted, his butt on a stump. Going into a hidden valley. Unseen for three years.
2
Exhausted by wine and banquets. Red ribbons come. Make sacrifices.
3
Exhausted on a rock. Grasping at thorns. Going home, but not seeing his wife.
4
Exhausted in a metal carriage. Going slowly… slowly.
5
Exhausted by red ribbons. Nose and feet are cut off. Slow and steady. Sacrifices help.
6
Exhausted in vines. Unsteady and uncomfortable. He says “Going brings regret”. Go on!
Qabalah
Path of He: Chokmah to Tiphereth. The Star.
The hexagram gives us the image of a dried up lake, while the ideogram shows a tree stopped from growing. Together they form the image of exhaustion, of being used up, trapped, and oppressed. This is the difficult stage where our energies are not enough to move us past the place we’re stuck.
Judgment: Exhaustion, while difficult, is necessary and good. We cannot live without sleep; if we tire ourselves out but keep forcing it, we truly break down. The exhaustion of this hexagram is that of sleep, not death. The right people allow us to feel at rest, just as one of the biggest signs of trust is being able to fall asleep in someone's presence. On the other hand, we can “use up” someone’s goodwill and faith. If you lie enough, their trust in you will be exhausted.
1 We begin with someone exhausted in body, sitting on a stump to rest. This is not an evil exhaustion but the result of hard work, though the next lines show us this exhaustion is from far more than a day. This is retirement after years of work, or a hiatus in the midst of a laborious project. With the right vision, they would be able to keep going.
2 This is the "retirement party” after those years of work, a wrap party after the completion of a film. We can also understand it as quite the opposite of the previous line: a hedonist depressed by their own excess. Someone no longer sated by wine and banquets. Either reading is met with reward and the work is a success, or the dandy is given responsibilities.
3 A terrible exhaustion, that of Prometheus chained or the prisoner stuck in a cell. If they seek to climb out, they are met with thorny barbed wire. This is forced retirement, exile, and isolation. When the prisoner is freed, they go home but do not see their wife. This is often the case for prisoners, or anyone forced to be away from home for an extended period. In return, they may find their loved ones have died, or moved on.
4 This is the exhaustion of a long car ride. If you live in a city, traffic can mean that even walking can get you somewhere quicker. This is a self imposed impediment, one has trapped themselves.
5 This is bureaucratic “red tape”, someone so exhausted by the powers that be that they are unable to progress in their goals, humiliated by people in power. This can also be someone impeded by their position of power. If they stay the proper course, in time they will achieve their will. Sacrifice or compromise can help this occur.
6 The subject is in bondage, tangled up in vines, troubled and unable to move ahead. This is the nihilist who says to themselves that all action is worthless and brings pain. Even if that were so, we must keep moving! The virtue of God is “Going”, therefore, when we keep ourselves stuck inside, trapped by our own ideas and, imprisoned by thought, we stray from the divine.
This hexagram warns us of the various ways that we can find our progress impeded: by over exertion, over indulgence, imprisonment, laziness, and other people. Many of these impediments are a result of a desire to do things quickly, rather than following the proper course.
This is someone trying to build Rome in a day, who will find the rest of their week far more difficult. Someone who uses substances to make their work easier will find it comes back to bite them. Someone who takes a short cut will often find the journey much more difficult than if they had just taken the straight and narrow path.