Hexagram 47Exhaustion (Oppression)
Upper : Lake (Dui) - ☱Lower : Water (Kan) - ☵
"Exhaustion. Success. Perseverance. The great man brings about fortune. Without blame. If one speaks, one is not believed."
The water has fled the lake (which is above) to flow downward (into the abyss). The lakebed is dry, the earth cracks. It is the total depletion of resources (financial, emotional, or physical). In the face of this oppression, agitation is futile and complaining (speaking) will convince no one. The noble man draws his strength from this very trial: since the external world is barren, he must find his joy and legitimacy within himself.
"The lake is without water: the image of exhaustion. Thus the noble man commits his life to fulfill his will."
When all is lost, character remains. It is in the desert that the true mettle of a soul is revealed.
A period of severe psychic drought. Depression. The libido has withdrawn, leaving the Ego parched and devoid of desire. You are oppressed by circumstances or by great fatigue. Jung perceived depression as a radical attempt by the Self to compel the Ego to halt and relinquish its illusions. Embrace this desert crossing in silence. It purges you of what is not essential.
It is Thermal Equilibrium (or the State of Void). A system can only perform work if there is a potential difference (from hot to cold, from high to low). When the entire system is at the same temperature (the lake is empty), no free energy can be extracted. Oppression is the physical incapacity of the system to perform work until new energy is injected from the outside.