Anaconda, Helios, 19th Day of Hagwinter, 524 M.E.

This morning, I found myself throwing the I Ching, something I haven't done in nearly a year. But I felt a need to throw for America, and the question I contemplated during the toss was basically, quo vadis, America? Where are we going? 

But the oracle did not answer that question, at least not directly. Instead, it gave me some great advice on how to manage myself in these difficult times.

The first two lines thrown were both yin lines, followed by a moving yang line: Kên, the immoveable mountain. Next, a moving yin line was followed by another moving yang line and then a solid yang line: Sun, the wind.

Wind above, the mountain below. Together, the two trigrams form Chien, the 53rd hexagram, representing gradual progress. The text reads: 

A gnarled pine grows tenaciously off the cliff face:

The wise person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity,

Thus elevating the collective spirit in one's own small way.

I recognize this as advise, not for America collectively, but for myself individually. I am, and if you're like me, we are, tenaciously clinging to a cliff right now, and are advised to maintain our dignity and integrity until the collective spirit of America can catch up to our progressive views. This interpretation is emphasized by the oracle of the moving lines. 

The hexagram as thrown contained three moving lines, in which case one is to consult the teaching of the middle moving line, in this case, that moving yin line in the upper Sun trigram. 

"Unavoidable but rather quite ordinary circumstances have placed you in an awkward situation. You did not foresee such an occurrence and were totally unprepared for it. You have been thrown off balance; you feel acutely embarrassed. There may be a way for you to fit in this situation so that whatever happens in it will not affect you adversely. On the other hand, there may not."

That's about as apt a description for our position in these times as one could expect from a 3,000-year-old text. But greater insight into this description is found in the moving lines immediately above and below.

The first moving line, the moving yang line of the lower, Kên trigram, is actually an admonishment: "You have not followed the course prescribed for you and, in an attempt to act individualistically, instinctively, and aggressively, you have gotten yourself into a tight and hostile situation. What has been done has been done. It is not possible for you to retrace your steps. Accept your present conditions as best you can." 

This advise from roughly 3,000 years ago (1,000 B.C., or the year 500 of the Vedic Era according to my version of the Universal Solar Calendar) anticipated the Stoic philosophers by at least a millennium. As quoted yesterday, the Greek philosopher Epictetus (50-135 A.D., or 550-635 of the Judeo-Christian Common Era) said, "We cannot control our external circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them." Challenging times can present us with an opportunity to strengthen our resolve. Anyone can maintain their dignity and integrity through calm and serene circumstances, but try maintaining your dignity and integrity through a tornado. Through chaos. Through a second Trump term.

In other words, the angst, the anxiety, and the anger we're suffering over the election results are of our own choosing. The I Ching and the Stoics aren't saying to embrace and accept the far-right politics, but to recognize that unless you're a U.S. Senator or a congressperson, there's probably not a lot you can do to control it right now. Sure, protest if you want if that's your reaction and inclination, but accept that the election has occurred, it's not going to change, and how you live your life in these times is your own decision. 

The moving line just above our oracular line is that moving yang line of the Sun trigram. This somewhat softens the blunt assessment of the previous lines and offers a cautiously optimistic prediction: "You have progressed so far and so much faster than others that you have become temporarily alienated from your friends and colleagues. You feel lonely and misunderstood, although in your own eyes you have fulfilled yourself. The attitudes of others have changed towards you: some have become spiteful, some shy, some obsequious, and some haughty. But this is only a passing phase. As your new position becomes more established and accepted, your social relationships will return to normal." 

Allow me the license to restate those lines in contemporary political jargon: We have become more progressive than the majority of our fellow citizens, who do not share our views and opinions. We feel alienated and misunderstood, although we also still feel we are correct. But impermanence is swift and nothing lasts forever, and if we maintain our dignity and integrity, others will eventually come around to our understanding.

In her consolation speech yesterday, Kamala Harris said that although she concedes the election, she does not concede "the fight . . .for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and for the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best — that is a fight I will never give up."

"Sometimes the fight takes a while." she acknowledged, but "that doesn't mean we won't win." 

So to put this all together, we should move through the stages of grief as best we're able and the sooner we arrive at acceptance, the better. After all, there's nothing we can do about it anyway and wishing it weren't so only makes our own selves suffer. We're encouraged to act and face life in these challenging times with dignity and integrity, and we're further advised that times do change and nothing last forever, not even Supreme Court appointments.

A gnarled pine grows tenaciously off the cliff face - the wise person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity, thus elevating the collective spirit in one's own small way.