I Ching, Yijing or Zhou Yi
"Oracle of the moon": © 2000 LiSe
I was talking with a friend about hexagram 27. He observed how the lines were connected. The bottom line with the top line, 2 with 5, 3 with 4. It makes sense: when one turns 27 upside down one gets its paired hexagram. Which is not 28 but 27!
Hexagram 27 is about sustenance. The food you need, both physically and spiritually, but also all those things you need in order to stay alive and healthy. They can be 'things', but also intangible stuff like joy or motivation. You have to fight for all those things, because you are the one who is responsible for your own life. You also have a responsibility for the lives of those you are connected with. Nobody is an island.
Where can you find your magic turtle? In your spirit, your mind, your feelings. The bottom line is close to the earth. Your feet, impulses, the strength to act, but also what is hiding deep in your instincts. The bottom and top line are 'outside the action', the deepest feelings, the highest spirit, or maybe even beyond that. The realm of magic. The turtle is 'magic', not tangible, like instincts and inspiration are 'magic'. Invisible and yet very powerful.
The turtle carries the Luoshu, the magic pattern of numbers, which were the basis of divination in the past. Numbers do carry numinous meanings, even though we forgot most of that.
When you turn 27 upside down, the bottom line moves to the top. And there you find the answer for the whereabouts of your motivation, obsessions, spiritual make-up.
Fruitful to cross the great stream - new impressions, people or landscapes are a great help in finding new images and inspiration.
Turtles live in the water, but the magical ones can ascend to the moon, which is also connected with water. It is the element of your feelings, which is also the home of motivation and inspiration and the master of your moods.
Losing your turtle can be disastrous. It means losing your ability to find inspiration, playing with images like a child which is the source of creative expression, but instead you get lost in duties instead of living the way your are created to be. Jealousy and greed can only exist when the turtle leaves. The line changes to 23, where things get cut. But it is also the lesson that you can cut off what harms you and to reconnect with the spirits again.
Shenshu poem 053 The moon-toad
須著力
莫遠游
長竿釣向蟾蜍窟
直欲雲中得巨鰲。
You have to put forth effort
Not travel far
With a long rod you fish in the cave of the moon-toad
With dedicated desire you catch the giant turtle Áo in the center of the clouds