Editors Note: The post below is from the Planet Waves archives, and was originally published in August of 2009. Today is the 42nd anniversary of the Woodstock music festival.
Dear Friend and Reader:
This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, which was actually held in Bethel, New York — a town whose name translates to “house of God.”
We’ve always paid tribute to Woodstock at Planet Waves (both our name and that of the festival are references to Bob Dylan), and have commemorated the event in some small way almost every year. The original, one and only festival, held Aug. 15, 16, 17 and 18, 1969, was one of the great watersheds of the modern human experience, defying everything that our society is supposed to be, and exemplifying what we can create if we want. I don’t mean sex, drugs and rock and roll: I mean people getting along with one another, sharing what we have and celebrating existence.
It’s a little-known historical fact that on the eve of 500,000 people gathering for what in fact became three days of peace and music, Wavy Gravy threw the I Ching and got Hexagram 13, “Fellowship Among Men.” This is “the creative, heaven” above and “the flame” below. It’s a picture of creative fire, rising from the Earth.
We’ve been talking a lot about Vesta lately, and this is a beautiful manifestation of her energy: the goddess of the creative fire within, and in the world. In fact the asteroid Vesta is prominent in this chart, which I’ll get to in a moment.
This event took place in what would have been an unforgettable summer in any event: the Moon landing, the gruesome antics of the Manson family, the recording of Abbey Road, the breakup of the Beatles and many other events, all of which culminate at the Woodstock Festival on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in sleepy old Sullivan County, a place there are usually a lot more cows than people.
The judgment or predicted outcome when this hexagram appears is: “Fellowship among men in the open. Success. It furthers one to cross the great water. The perseverance of the superior man furthers.” Imagine how they must have felt seeing that message come out of the yarrow sticks.
One commentary reads, “True fellowship among men must be based upon a concern that is universal. It is not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men, but rather the goals of humanity. That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds. If unity of this kind prevails, even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water, can be accomplished. But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship, a persevering and enlightened leader is needed, a man with clear, convincing and inspiring aims and the strength to carry them out.”