The Gate of Imagination
Other Names: Fantasy, Decrease
Biology: adrenal glands
Archetypal Insight from the I Ching, by Ma Deva Padma; when this description resonates, a shift from novice expression to wisdom is likely imminent:
The Tao decreases and increases as it is needed, impersonally, and on a grand scale. There are times when letting go seems devastating, the end of the world; however, it doesn’t always have to be so, and it might help to remember that less is sometimes more.
The whole of nature is an ebb and flow – the tides, the seasons, the very breathing of all living creatures. We appreciate some aspects of nature’s letting go, but we run into trouble when the same dynamic is at play in our own lives.
The word decrease is generally equated with something bad – diminishing returns, less money, less love, less influence, less security, and so on. But this one-sided perspective doesn’t take into account the quality of decrease that is an essential part of the dynamic of growth. It is the part that curbs excess, trims the fat, facilitates the restoration of balance – and brings us to our knees, where we must find the inner resources to grow into a fuller realization of our potential.
The message of Decrease implies the need to cut back, to acknowledge the importance – and the adequacy – of the bare essentials. While it is a pleasure to accumulate and comfortable to have more than you really need, once the comfort zone has grown excessive it becomes burdensome. Getting too cozy creates stagnation and defeats the drive to get out and explore new territories just as too much good cooking can make you fat, if you don’t energetically work it off. Always having everything you need right at your fingertips can create complacency, or downright laziness.
Decrease marks the time for simplifying your life. And the very process of cutting back and paring things down to the essentials – whether it’s on an emotional level, in material possessions, or a sheer extravagance of pleasurable occasions – brings you right where you need to be in order to remain in sync with the changing climate of the times.
Put aside any worries you might have about making what might appear to be sacrifices now by remembering that periods of decrease can awaken your resourcefulness and sharpen your sensitivity to the world around you. It’s an opportunity to find out that life can be just as rich and meaningful without the ribbons and bows, just as pleasurable without all the little indulgences you might have grown accustomed to. The lesson to be learned now is how to willingly cut back on activities or thought patterns that are draining your energy or otherwise taking more of your attention than you can afford. If life proceeds to facilitate this process by forcing you to cut back even more, turn your attention to making the most of what you have rather than focusing on what is being taken away, or what’s happening for the guy next to you. It is an invitation to contemplate the bigger picture of your life and sort out the essential from the nonessential. If you can learn to pass through times of decrease without fretting and trying to hold on, you will come to understand the benefits that simpler times always bring. Like a good spring cleaning, letting go can freshen your outlook, create more room to grow, and unburden your heart.
The Changes (additional insight for applying the Line of an activated Gate)
Line 1 – Investigator/Information
The balance of increase and decrease is at play in our lives every day, on every level. Nothing really disappears – even matter cannot be destroyed – it is only redistributed. Stay alert to keep the balance in your daily life now whether you are in a position to give or receive. It is neither the time for excessive hoarding nor excessive generosity.
Line 2 – Responder/Hermit
Once we’ve been stripped of whatever it is that must be taken away, we are vulnerable, laid bare. It may be that you need help or support from others, and there is no shame in this. Mysteriously, only after you have experienced the necessity of letting go are you able to be empathetic to the plight of others and to sincerely give from the heart.
Line 3 – Explorer
Being confronted with the reality that it’s time to withdraw from certain activities is directly related to how much of your identity you have invested in them. A time of decrease can seem to come upon us in an instant, like the bursting bubble of a stock market crash. The upset shifts everybody’s focus – and it can bring out the best in people by forcing them to recognize and appreciate what they have.
Line 4 – Stabilizer
Focus totally on the task at hand, whatever it is, even if it seems as “useless” as counting grains of rice. It’s your choice, ultimately, how to view the prospect of making do with less. Far from being a cause for despair, it can be seen as a cleansing that streamlines your life from the inside out. It’s your call.
Line 5 – Visionary Leader
You might be wondering why everybody else seems to be suffering so much from the need to simplify and cut back, while you find the same circumstances to be refreshingly in tune with your own inner rhythms. If so, celebrate your good fortune and do what you can to help others look at the rainbows rather than fixate on the clouds.
Line 6 – Adept/Role Model
Decrease is a little like going on a diet. The earliest days can be a torture, overwhelmed by thoughts of all the goodies you can’t have. Everyone else’s plate looks mouthwatering, and your own seems so bland. Comparison is a hellish, nasty habit of the ego that continuously needs to evaluate how it’s doing in relation to others. There is absolutely no point to the exercise, and indulging it will only make you feel bad.
Other aspects
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
Dynamics: Joyous (reflecting lake) + Keeping Still (mountain)
Color: pink + dark green
Attributes: communicative, pleasurable, sexual, expressive + rest, meditation, stillness, enduring
Action(s): to open and limit
Developmental: youth + maturity