Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder

Meaning

Thunder doubled—the shock that awakens, terrifies, and exhilarates. This is the eldest son's energy doubled, pure arousal and awakening. The image is of the first thunderclap of spring that makes all creatures start in fear—and then laugh with relief when they realize they've survived. Shock can destroy, but it also clears the air and awakens.

The Two Trigrams

Above is Thunder: the first roll of thunder waking the sleeping roots, carrying arousing movement. Below is Thunder: the first roll of thunder waking the sleeping roots, carrying arousing movement. Together they form the image of this hexagram.

A Taoist Teaching Story

A Huainanzi story tells of an old man on the frontier whose horse ran off across the border. The neighbours came to comfort him. "Who knows if this is bad luck?" he said. Months later the horse came home leading a fine wild stallion. The neighbours congratulated him. "Who knows if this is good luck?" Then his son broke his leg riding the stallion. "Who knows if this is bad luck?" A year later war came, and the young men of the village were sent to the front, where most of them died. The lame son stayed at home and lived.

Do not decide too quickly what this turn of events means. Fortune and misfortune grow out of each other. Stay steady, stay humble, and let time show what it all means.

Archetype

The Thunderbolt, The Shock, The Awakening Force—you experience or embody the energy that jolts the world (or the psyche) awake

Shadow

Chronic shock that traumatizes rather than awakens, using shock to control others, the addiction to intensity, nervous exhaustion from perpetual arousal, shock without integration

Karmic Lesson

The shock reflects accumulated energy that must discharge. Past stagnation or past shock-trauma is being addressed through this experience of thunder.

Timing

This hexagram resonates with Uranus transits, Mars squares, and sudden events. The first thunder after winter, the new moon in Aries, carry its energy.

Integration

The I Ching says: 'The shock comes—oh, oh! Laughing words—ha, ha!' The sequence is: shock, fear, then laughter when one realizes one has survived. Ask: What is being awakened through this shock? Can I move from fear to laughter? After the thunder comes the rain—after the shock comes the renewal.