Archetype 39: Obstruction
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed towards the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
—Exodus 14:5–9
The Reading
The Israelites have been enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years. Finally a leader has emerged. Moses has been chosen by God to lead the Israelites to freedom. The Israelites have followed Moses into the desert, as the pilgrimage to the Promised Land has begun. But the pharaoh has reneged on his promise to Moses to let the Israelites free. Instead he sends his army to hunt them down. The Israelites desperately try to stay ahead of the army. But now they have run into an insurmountable obstacle: the Red Sea, a vast body of water almost 1,400 miles long, 220 miles wide, and 1,500 feet deep. With the pharaoh’s army rapidly closing in, the Israelites have no place to escape.
The Hexagram
The hexagram portrays Chaos in front and the Mountain behind. There is no place to go. The obstruction seems complete. However, the hexagram also contains a hint about how to overcome the obstruction. The upper trigram contains the image of Water. And water winds its way around the mountain.
The Archetype
There is a time...
- To recognize that obstructions appear in the course of events and to not take it personally.
- To see obstructions as challenges that can and should be overcome.
- To accept that not all obstructions can be overcome directly.
- To pause, pull back, join forces with others, and look for leadership that can help overcome the obstruction.
- To detour around the obstruction rather than giving up on the destination.
- To avoid the temptation to blame others for the obstruction and instead look inside.
- To use the obstruction as an opportunity for inner growth and building inner strength.
Now is that time.
Moving Lines
Other interpretations of Archetype 39:
- Tom Christensen's interpretation [click here]
- Cafe Au Soul's interpretation [click here]
- LiSe's interpretation [click here]
- Richard Wilhelm's interpretation [click here]
Internal Links:
- Return to the Hexagram Index Table [click here].
- Return to Consulting the Christian I Ching [click here].
- Purchase a printed copy of Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching [click here].
- Learn about our Online Christian I Ching Workshop [click here].
- Find out about personal consultations [click here].
Reproduced with permission from Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching copyright (c) 2015 Roger Sessions.