MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ASKS THE ORACLE: CAN I C0-DEPEND ON YOU? SHOULD I CUT MY LOSSES, OR REDOUBLE MY EFFORTS?

I CHING - CO-DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS Stephen Pressfield, in his self-help manifesto, “The War of Art,” cites “resistance” as the devil - a destructive force (personified as Satan), that emanates from within, seeking to thwart whatever positive motivations you have to create art, or to even to live a better life through self-improvement. In a list of potentially positive actions that resistance targets Pressfield includes as #10: “any act that entails commitment of the heart. The decision to get married, to have a child, to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.” This resonates! But, what if said resistance stands in the way of ENDING a toxic, co-dependent relationship - one in which you’ve invested years of work, love, passion, and friendship? Lately you’ve been looking longingly for an escape hatch, because what was once a mutually satisfying partnership has devolved into a stasis, a grind of hellish endurance. Will the I Ching say that it’s ok to admit defeat, or exhort us to fight on? Will it advise us to go into couples therapy, or to simply cash in our chips and cut our losses? Ah, but, It’s not so simple. For one thing fear of the unknown is palpable; maybe you don’t want to go solo and become cynical, even if being part of a couple feels like a strangulation of your soul. Perhaps the Oracle can advise? The question posed before the Oracle today is stated thus: CO-DEPENDENCE: CUT YOUR LOSSES, OR REDOUBLE YOUR EFFORT? THE I CHING’S RESPONSE: HEXAGRAM 64 “INCOMPLETION” with moving lines 2 & 3 HEXAGRAM 56 “JOURNEYER”