Gate 2 · Direction

What it is like

You sense the direction before you can name it, and you often lead others simply by walking. Sometimes asking "why" too early stops something that would have made sense along the way.

When someone close has it

This person often sets the direction without saying a word about it. It helps when they don't have to explain right away where they are heading.

A question for today

Which way am I pulled today, even if I don't know why?

The six lines of gate 2

1. Line 1 · Frost Underfoot

   This line senses direction from small signs before anything becomes obvious. Just as frost announces ice, small signals in daily life tell you where things are heading, and you look for solid confirmation of them. You feel steadiest when you know where you stand. When the signs are too few, it is easy to get stuck in checking and never take the first step, although it is the first step that explains the most.

2. Line 2 · The Straight Path

   Here direction arrives without preparation or training. You know which way to go before anyone asks about the plan, and you walk straight, without scheming. Others often notice this in you before you do and call you to places where they lack a sense of direction. Sometimes you prefer to keep to your own track with nobody beside you and hear their call as a disturbance, although it is often the call that shows what the path is for.

3. Line 3 · Unclaimed Merit

   This line discovers direction in practice, often in the service of someone else's cause. You try, change route, come back, and only the sequence of turns adds up to a path that cannot be planned in advance. The old image is of someone who does the work well and asks for no credit. When the route changes too often, it is easy to decide that you have no direction at all, although this is exactly how it reveals itself.

4. Line 4 · Tied Sack

   Here direction ripens in a trusted circle and does not go out into the world before its time. You share where you are heading with only a few, and near them the way is easier to find. You show strangers very little, and that keeps you safe from judgement that comes too soon. Sometimes the sack stays tied too long, and the people close to you do not know how to walk beside you because they do not know the direction.

5. Line 5 · Plain Garment

   This line shows direction to others without putting itself at the centre. People see in you someone who knows where to go and come to you for guidance in practical matters, at work, in the family, in decisions. It works best when you point the way calmly and without ornament. When others' expectations outgrow what you actually see, trust is easily lost, because the picture of a guide does not survive its meeting with reality.

6. Line 6 · Hilltop View

   Here direction is seen from a great distance, like a road viewed from a hilltop. Over the years you see more clearly where different paths lead, and you teach others by which road you choose and how you walk it. The old image is of two forces clashing in open country. Sometimes attachment to one road turns into stubbornness, and it is hard to give way even when the ground is changing.

The centre of this gate

• G

Channels through gate 2

• 14–2 · Pulse