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“Crossing the great stream” is a phrase that recurs often in the I Ching. Change is our only constant, and as life changes, we come to intervals of transition, times that demand significant inner and/or outer change. The problem is that organisms tend to be conservative — they defend the old equilibrium, the homeostasis, and the status quo and resist change. We need to move with the cycle of change or be overwhelmed by it, fall into stagnation, dithering at the edge of the great stream, imprisoned by doubt, fear, and lazy inertia.
Inner resistance is one of the toughest obstacles to overcome, but sometimes other people or forces are what most resist us making the change. Inner or outer forces may seek to defend the status quo, and archetypally, we call these forces “threshold guardians.”
See the Zap Oracle card: Threshold Guardians
The famous test pilot Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier by flying the experimental X-1 in 1947. As he approached the sound barrier, horrible vibrations caused him to feel that the jet might be shaken to pieces. Then, there was a loud boom as he broke the barrier, and everything quieted down as he began cruising at the new hypersonic speed.
Summon your will to cross the great stream. As Shakespeare put it,
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”
This is an auspicious time to cross the great stream, to move with the curve of change, make the transition, and discover what’s on the other side.
Sometimes the need to cross the great stream comes in the form of a shock (positive or negative seeming). If this is the case for you, see the Zap Oracle card Shock
