Start with Letting Go...
The veil between years has lifted, and before you lies an expanse of potential. Yet, how do you navigate this fertile ground, ensuring your steps lead not to another year of regrets but to a fulfilling future? The answer lies within the enigmatic Gate 41: Decrease, the Gate of Contraction.
“Decrease. Contraction.” sounds like words you wouldn’t associate with dreams or the start energy, and yet, the energy they represent is the cornerstone and is required for growth and exploration. Think of it as letting go of what is no longer needed so that you can make space for the next. When you are empty, you desire more. This is the state of decrease and inspires desire and dreams.
This theme embodies the potent cocktail of desire and limitation, the fuel that fires our dreams but can also trap us in unfulfilled fantasies. Clinging to unrealized dreams or drowning in the past prevents us from fully experiencing the present moment and manifesting our desires in the real world.
We just watched the movie Oppenheimer and wow, I immediately thought of the connection of this brilliant physicist wrestling with the atomic bomb's destructive potential and his dream of harnessing nuclear energy for good, but the shadow of Gate 41 loomed large, a cautionary tale of dreams twisted into nightmares. (TIP: Watch the movie ASAP! It’s excellent)
The themes play out in Oppenheimer and also in Narnia. This intense desire and dreams of fantasy. Think about it, in both stories the fantasy was a fantasy, meaning nothing in their past or present could come close to what they were dreaming to bring about.
Imagine standing at the threshold of a new year, a clean slate stretched before you. Excitement tingles in your veins, a cocktail of possibilities and trepidation. Do you think this is what the Pevensie children felt before stepping into the wardrobe?
In Narnia, the Pevensie children all harbor secret desires – Peter's longing for leadership, Susan's craving for beauty, Edmund's jealousy and desire for power. Entering Narnia through the wardrobe can be seen as a manifestation of these desires, a stepping into a fantastical world fueled by Gate 41's pressure for new experiences.
Uncover the limitation of resources that maximize the development of potential and dive into the pressure to fantasize about new experiences, explore desires, and embrace life through feelings.
“The 41st hexagram, as a codon in our genetic code, is the only initiating codon. It is an initiating codon in the sense that it begins. It is at the beginning in the genetic structure of everything.” - Ra Uru Hu
Oppenheimer started the era of nuclear weapons and the kids in Narnia stepped into a new fantastical world that shifted them into the understanding of life. These stories show how they were able to move from the past into the present moment while maintaining a healthy balance of their dreams in the future. Learning to navigate the fertile ground of potential with awareness and clarity. Like Oppenheimer turning away from the destructive path, we can cultivate the skill of discerning true aspirations from fleeting fantasies.
It's about stepping out of the mind's labyrinth and into the present, where a heightened awareness blooms. Picture yourself attuned to the subtle energies around you, sensing the whispers of possibilities like ripples in a pond. This is the magic of anticipation, a superpower that guides you towards your authentic path.
And beyond anticipation lies emanation, the ultimate transformation. It's not about achieving or acquiring, but about shedding limitations and returning to the limitless source from which we all arise. Remember Oppenheimer's awe upon witnessing the first atomic detonation, a glimpse into the vast unknown, the very essence of creation. This is emanation, a dissolving of boundaries and a return to pure potentiality.
So, as you stand at the threshold of your fresh start, ask yourself:
- Examine your "why." What fuels your desire for change, what sparks your yearning for a new horizon?
- Who are the supportive figures in your life, the ones who illuminate your path and challenge you to grow
- What are my true aspirations, the ones that resonate deep within my soul?
- How can I shed the limitations of the past and embrace the unknown with courage and grace?
When you have clear answers to these questions, you'll feel a natural readiness to step into your new cycle.
As you move through this first month of January and start your new year journey, take your lessons learned from closing out 2023 with you, celebrate those lessons, and step into your new dreams to live out in 2024.
Open your heart to the whispers of your true purpose, trust the unfolding journey, and remember, your most magnificent possibilities are yet to come.
Dream Big!
The Inspiration For This Lesson
“The capacity to be able to fantasize the feeling itself because all the feelings lie there."
Chinese story: The gardner who would cut back the garden in the wintertime or fall to prepare it for the following season. By cutting it back, nothing was lost because all the potential of that plant, everything that that plant could possibly be, every twig, every leaf and every flower, was already there within it, contracted inside, held inside as a potential. So the 41st gate carries with it this enormous potential for any kind of experience.
“The limitation of resources which maximizes development of the potential.” - Ra
This is about feeling. Allowing the feelings.
