Something is happening in the dark womb of the earth: a decision (Zhen) has been made and is now a long period of growth and materialization (Kun) follows. I do not know which is harder: the decision, or the patience.
In any case, our decision should be clear, consistent with our deepest self, uninfluenced by our day-to-day mind and/or our cultural environment. A decision that reflects us as a whole, as the one who we are. And exactly this kind of a decision we then entrust to the world – as if we were planting the perfect seed in the dark womb of the earth. Giving it space and time to materialize and to come to life.
Case Study
Hexagram 24 – return begins with a yang line, followed by the five yin lines. The lower trigram is Zhen, the thunder, followed by a triple Kun (the earth): first and second core character and upper trigram.
Something is happening in the dark womb of the earth: a decision (Zhen) has been made, followed by a long period of growth and materialization. Or, to use a more concrete image: something is happening, the embryo is growing, the plant is returning – but yet we see nothing of it.
But we don’t see any of it. It is happening in the dark womb of the earth. And that’s what’s so disturbing – that we can’t see or perceive anything of what’s happening there.
This spring I decided to sow basil myself, rather than buy it from the gardener already sprouted. So I prepared a pot and soil, bought some seeds and planted them. Nothing happened. Every day I checked my pot and thought, “Maybe the seeds were no good? Maybe a bird picked the seeds out of the soil? Should I sow again?” I was tempted to poke around in the soil, to see if anything was happening.
I did nothing. I suppressed my curiosity and uncertainty (“Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes at the time of solstice…”). And waited.
Ten days later the miracle happened: my basil sprouted. Green! (By the way, that’s what it said on the box…)
So what advice does the I Ching give with hexagram 24 – return? I think the first thing is to make a clear decision, to plant the perfect seed, so to speak. A decision that is consistent with our deepest self, unaffected by our day-to-day mind and/or our cultural environment. A decision that reflects us as a whole, as the one who we are. In other words: choosing the best seed!
And then we should trust this seed that we have planted, our decision, and give it time and space. So that it can materialize and come to life.
I don’t know which is more difficult: the decision or the patience. Because here, as with my basil, something is happening here without me seeing it. We, on the other hand, are used to always doing, acting, reacting. And instead of simply waiting, we are all too easily tempted into blind actionism.
Maybe because we don’t trust our own decisions? I certainly didn’t trust my basil seeds at first…
Not-acting, letting things grow at their own pace, not interfering: that is Wu Wei. And it is very difficult for us. But it is probably also the highest and best advice the hexagram gives: not to interfere.
PS: Planting basil may be a good idea for several reasons. In India basil is a sacred plant, consecrated to the god Vishnu, symbolizing his wife, the goddess Lakshmi, and representing protection, health and prosperity.
Further Questions on Hexagram 24
- A user asked the I Ching: “How can I deal with a person in my environment who is trying to harm me and seems to keep on doing so?” The person is mentally ill. There have already been clarifying discussions, and false accusations that were spread to create confusion have been proven to be unfounded. Unfortunately the whole thing is still going on.
- For a little over a year, a user has been getting the flu. So far she has been unable to find a physical or psychological cause. She finds it difficult to accept these involuntary periods of rest. Her question to the I Ching: “What supports me in times of my illness?
- A user asks the I Ching the following question: “What is the highest and best advice regarding my financial difficulties?”. The I Ching answers with 24 – Return.
- One user asks: “In my situation – I’m in the middle of a new career start – what should I do, what’s the situation about?” He describes that not making immediate progress professionally triggers old feelings of worthlessness, he takes it personally, it hurts. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to push anything either, especially out of this feeling of inner poverty.
The I Ching answers with 24 – Return. - One user receives Hexagram 24 – Return in a situation that she describes as follows: “My sister keeps rejecting me. She is probably trying to hide how badly she has behaved toward me, so she rejects my advances. I feel pain over this and wonder how to deal with it, how to behave. In fact, the answer, hexagram 24 – Return, is like an anchor for me. I have to accept the experience of rejection. I must treat myself well. Until the outside world does the same. I’ve learned something again!”
Excursus: I Ching and Psychoanalysis
Hexagram 24 – return
Keywords: The Cyclical Structure of the Unconscious | The Cyclicality of Language | The Symbolic: Law, Language, Structure
The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan argues that language is not a static system but a dynamic process – a continuous play of difference and displacement. In this sense, he speaks of the “chain of signifiers”, in which meaning is never fully fixed but instead unfolds n the interplay of elements.
Hexagram 24 – return also describes such a process: a movement in which something renews itself, something comes back. But what returns is not identical to what came before. It is not a mere repetition but a transformative return, a true renewal: the basil plant in the pot is the next generation of the previous one that produced the seed – but it is not an identical clone of that earlier plant.
In psychoanalytic terms, this phenomenon appears as follows: Repressed content does not return directly as conscious memory, but in disguised form – as a fragment of language, a slip of the tongue, a symptom, a repetition, in dreams or fantasies. This return of the repressed does not follow a linear logic but a cyclical structure, deeply intertwined with the dynamics of the unconscious and the symbolic order.
The overview page for this hexagram can be found here:
https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/788888.htm
