Fifth Mansion — Prayer of Union

In the fifth mansion, the soul experiences brief but unmistakable union with God — Teresa compares it to a silkworm entering its cocoon and emerging as a butterfly. The faculties are suspended; the soul knows with certainty it was in God, though it cannot explain how. Hex 31 (Influence/Wooing) describes mutual attraction between lake and mountain — stimulation that arises not from force but from receptive openness. The hexagram's counsel to 'keep still' in order to attract resonates with Teresa's teaching that the soul cannot produce this union through effort. Both map a moment where separate things discover they were always connected. The I-Ching speaks of influence without coercion; Teresa speaks of union without comprehension.

Cross-Tradition Resonances