Ding :: Tripod Vessel

Very auspicious :: Sacrificial offering

鼎

䷱

6 :: first

Ding up-turned. Good for eliminating spoiled meat.
Take in the concubine with a son. No misfortune.

You are renewed. It is time to clear out the old and make a fresh, bold start. New relationships (marriage) are fruitful. Your restored health brings opportu-nities. Spiritual ablutions precede a ritual.

9 :: second

Ding filled to the top. Opponents afflicted; not us. Auspicious.

You have done the right and proper thing. You have not been confrontational but, having been correct and thorough, your opponents are defeated and your critics are silenced. Ritual purity is established.

6 :: third

Ding handles are missing; it cannot be used. Plump pheasant uneaten.
Rain comes. Ultimately auspicious.

You are stopped short of completion. You are setback or obstructed but ultimately successful. An oversight indicates that you have not yet mastered the protocols of success (ritual).

9 :: fourth

Ding legs are bent. Offerings are spilled on the leader. Inauspicious.

You have reached a place of importance prematurely. Being unprepared for power you fail in your duties and lose the support of colleagues and superiors. Ritual procedures are bollixed.

9 :: fifth

Ding with carrying rod of polished bronze. Auspicious.

You have succeeded. A finely polished bronze handle symbolizes the honor and responsibilities of high office. Method (ritual) has been mastered.

6 :: top

Ding with carrying rod inlaid with jade. Auspicious. Nothing unfavorable.

You experience success beyond your expectations. Jade is incorruptible and represents what is most exquisite in nature. You can express deep feelings of joy.

Image

The Ding,¹ one of the oldest forms of bronze ritual vessel in China, is a symbol of the religious gesture that is inspired by the remembrance of our common origin (ancestors, Nature, Heaven). Ritual divination is the communication at the center of a harmonious human relationship to nature.

Auspices

It is a time of education and great spiritual and material success. Don't rush. Your superiors notice you. Opportunity is abundant. Alliances are offered to you on all sides.

Good for travel, marriage, religious ceremonies, and memorials.

Bad for complaining and ignoring superiors.

Comment

The Ding gives symbolic form to the central wisdom of the Zhouyi. Human beings, according to this text, have the opportunity to be in harmony with the cosmos through a spiritual life that is best expressed by the ancestral rituals of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. If we express and demand harmony with grace and sincerity we have a chance at the great non-dualistic feeling of reality.

When we fill the Ding with fragrant and delicious food and turn our face and hands to the sky, we play our part in the unknowable mechanisms of life.

Other Correspondences

Business: Joint ventures, promotions, mergers, and rewarding employees.

Disharmonies: Contagious diseases, wind disorders, vomiting, and indigestion.

Prognosis: Very good. The patient is easily stabilized and healed.