復 The Return
지뢰복 (地雷復) · 坤(☷) / 震(☳)
復 The Return (Hexagram 24): The return flows through. The way circles back upon itself, and in seven days it comes round again — a time when the path opens anew. On the darkest solstice, the light first returns. An ending is only another name for a new beginning.
復, 亨. 反復其道, 七日來復 (복, 형. 반복기도, 칠일래복)
The return flows through. The way circles back upon itself, and in seven days it comes round again — a time when the path opens anew.
Beneath earth where the stripping has ended, a single yang line first stirs — like the light first returning at the winter solstice.
Today what had stopped begins again, and the vigor that was lost returns — a day of recovery. As a single light stirs deep within the earth, the first breath of spring sprouts after the darkest hour. There is no need to hurry. The small returning warmth must be tended with care, so do not force it — come slowly back to your true path.
On the darkest solstice, the light first returns. An ending is only another name for a new beginning.
What lost path or energy are you being invited to return to, gently, without forcing it?
※ Inspired by the philosophy of change in the I Ching — not a traditional divination ritual.