I n nt t r ro d u uc c t to r y I C h hi in n g C ou r rs se e from Clarity
Covering everything you need to know to start divining with the I Ching
Please send any questions or comments about this course to: Hilary Barrett
[email protected] (0)1993 881984
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Introductory I Ching course © Hilar Hilary y J Barrett Barrett 2004
Table of Contents
Introductory I Ching Ching Course __________________________________ _____________________________________ ___ 1 Table of Contents _______________________ _______________________________________________ __________________________ __ 2 Part 1: Where does does it come from, and what is it for? ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ _________ ____ 3 So what is it used for?_______________________________________________________ 3 Part 2: How to identify a good I Ching translation__________________________________ translation__________________________________ 5 Part 3: Reviews Reviews of some of the best best I Ching books ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 7 Stephen Stephen Karcher, how to use the I Ching ___________ _________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 7 Alfred Alfred Huang’s ‘Complete I Ching’ ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 8 Part 4: The working parts _____________________________________________________ 10 Part 5: Finding the real question _______________________________________________ 13 Are there any wrong questions?______________________________________________ questions? ______________________________________________ 14 Part 6: How to consult ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 16 Part 7: A sample reading reading ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ _________ ____ 19 “What’s the potential in this relationship?”____________________________________ 19 To sum up: ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ________ ___ 20 Part 8: What now? ___________________________________________________________ 22 Become Become a friend ___________ _________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ________ ___ 22 Get some different translations______________________________________________ 22
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Part 1: Where does it come from, and what is it for? The I Ching is an ancient Chinese oracle: its name means Book of Changes. Change is the only constant, in your outer and inner experience alike. The I Ching offers ways of changing your own life, and of understanding and moving with the changes around you. The oldest parts of the I Ching oracle were first written down some 3,000 years ago in ancient China. However, they are thought to come from a spoken tradition of shamanism that is immeasurably older: how old, it is impossible to say. But what is truly remarkable about the I Ching is that it has developed organically from these ancient roots, with new ‘branches’ of theory and experience growing and flourishing over the millennia. The very oldest texts within it are known as the Zhouyi – the Changes of Zhou. This has been in continuous use since the kings of the Zhou dynasty used it to plan their campaign to overthrow the corrupt Shang rulers, in about 1000BC. Since then, generations of people who studied the oracle and consulted it for guidance in their own lives have added their own commentaries to it – practical, spiritual, and philosophical. Some of their words have been enshrined as part of the I Ching in use today. But it isn’t called the Book of Change for nothing. The modern world is finding new meanings within the oracle: it’s answering questions about everything from stock market investment to the latest New Age gurus, and new I Ching books are proliferating! (In the next part of the course, I’ll cover how to recognise a good I Ching book, and recommend some of the best available.) As you develop your own relationship with the oracle, I think you’ll find that its timeless voice speaks directly to modern concerns. So what is it used for? You can consult the I Ching as a meditation, without any particular question in mind. However, people have most often asked it specific questions about projects in their lives. Early Chinese diviners asked whether they should invade a certain state; in the 21st century, business people ask about advertising campaigns. The ancient diviners would ask two questions – ‘If the king sets forth?’ ‘If the king does not set forth?’; you might ask ‘what if I take this job?’ and ‘what if I don’t?’. The Marquis of Wei, in 478BC, was following an age-old tradition when he asked the oracle to help him understand a dream; I often do dream interpretation readings for clients. And then as 3
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now, people have always asked the I Ching about their relationships. (True, it’s more likely to be about the emotional consequences of moving in together than the political repercussions of an arranged marriage – but things do change a little over 3,000 years!) Probably these examples have already started you thinking about what you can achieve with the I Ching. The important thing is that it isn’t, and never has been, just a way to predict a future that’s set in stone. (This could be because there’s no such thing…) Do you know the Serenity Prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The I Ching brings both the wisdom to know the difference and the insight and confidence to make one. But if you don’t get hold of a true, authentic translation, all this potential remains beyond your reach. In the next lesson I’ll show you how to discriminate between the good translations and the all-too-common wastes of paper, and give you some links where you can find free texts and information on the I Ching.
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Part 2: How to identify a good I Ching translation If you want to use the I Ching for yourself, you will need to start with a copy of it. Sounds obvious, no? But in fact the shelves in the ‘New Age’ section of the world’s bookshops are groaning with ‘I Ching’ books that have very little to do with the I Ching. Beware of the words ‘modernisation’ and ‘simplification’. There are many authors out there, some of whom know the I Ching well, some who don’t, who feel that the original imagery of the I Ching is simply too remote from modern perceptions. Instead of translating it, they write out their own explanations and paraphrases. It’s as if I told you there was someone I’d like you to meet – but instead of bringing you and him together to talk, I kept you in different rooms and ran in-between passing on summaries of what he said (or what I’d understood of what he said!). What kind of communication would you have? You’d manage to share some information, no doubt, but it would all be rather flavourless… Seriously, though, how can the I Ching speak to you if its words are taken away? A single image contains a great concentration of significance, and can be understood on many levels at once – there are always new depths of meaning to be uncovered. Every time you ask the I Ching a question, you create a unique relationship between your question and its answer, and a unique set of meanings. Even when you’ve already received exactly the ‘same’ answer several times in response to other questions, you will find that this one is new. But if you’re stuck with someone else’s ‘one size fits all’ interpretation, this creative interaction never takes place. The basic requirement for a I Ching translation is that it should be a translation. Look for the original images: the Well at Hexagram 48, the tiger in Hexagram 10, the rivers to cross and directions to move in. There will also be comments from the author on the original texts, but make sure you can see clearly which is which. Another factor is how much of the I Ching you are getting. The most important part is the ancient Zhouyi, which consists just of the name of the hexagrams, judgements and line texts. But the I Ching as a whole contains a wealth of additional, later commentary, part of the 10 Wings. (There’s a full account of the Wings and how to use them in divination in the reference manual of the complete I Ching Course.) To be honest, you can perform perfectly good divinations without the more metaphysical of 5
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these commentaries, especially if they are replaced by insightful interpretations from the modern author. But it is good to have the option of reading the complete book. In the recommended books below, I mention which ones include the complete I Ching. I have one further recommendation for you: buy more than one if you possibly can. Even between faithful translations of the I Ching, there are enormous differences in meaning, especially in the oldest parts of the text. This is because the Chinese characters do not work in the same way as English words. The same character can be a verb, noun or adverb; it could be the object or subject of a verb. There’s practically no punctuation, and the translator’s choice of where to insert a comma can change the meaning completely. Having a second translation does more than just give you alternative versions to choose between. It liberates you from the ideas of any translator, so you can begin to develop your own, personal understanding. (Ideally, you would have a large collection of individual translations, a concordance and a Chinese dictionary - but you can manage without!) To prove that I’m not just saying this to increase my book sales ;) … … you can get Book I of Wilhelm’s I Ching for free from onlineClarity: http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources/Wilhelm_translation.pdf There are also plenty of online resources, including complete translations, commentaries and more, but in the nature of the internet, these things come and go. You can find an up-to-date listing here: http://www.onlineClarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources/directory.html
In the next part: some of the best I Ching books you can get, with in-depth reviews and extracts to enable you to choose the translation that suits you best.
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Part 3: Reviews of some of the best I Ching books
Here are reviews of my favourite I Ching books. They’re not the only ones you can work with, but they are the best I know of when you’re starting out.
Stephen Karcher, how to use the I Ching On either side of me as I work at my desk are two large piles of I Ching books. If this one isn’t on the top of a pile, it’s usually because it’s open in front of me! It is not a ‘traditional’ I Ching - it doesn’t have the moralising tone you find in some older translations. What it does have is probably the best introduction of any I Ching book anywhere, and a lucid and beautiful translation built exclusively from the original Chinese characters. Turning the original Chinese into ordinary, flowing English is tricky: all translators have to add the odd word and bit of punctuation to make something intelligible. But Karcher gets away with very few additions, and since they are all in italics you are not limited to his understanding. Each hexagram is set out across a double page, so it’s quick and easy to find what you’re looking for. And each includes…
Name (the title of the hexagram, and its associations) Image (the oracle) Outer and inner worlds Hidden possibility (the nuclear hexagram, the core of the situation) Sequence (where you’ve come from) Definition (sums up where you are) Symbol (how to work with the energies of the situation) The moving lines Lucid commentaries from Karcher on the hexagram as a whole and on each line
As for that introduction I was singing the praises of… There is an account of what happens when you divine that is full of food for thought. Then Karcher explains all the key words and concepts within the I Ching that you really need to understand in order to divine with the real I Ching - which is what he is about to give you! There’s a brief history of the I Ching, and a truly comprehensive 7
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account of how to divine with it: this is where I learned a lot of the methods I now use with my customers. And finally comes a sample reading, showing you how to put all this together. This is also the I Ching I would always take away on holiday, when I can’t take the 10 or 15 translations I’d like to have with me! It packs an amazing amount of information into a tiny space, a mere 180 pages of slim paperback that includes all the parts of the I Ching you need for divination, plus insightful, challenging commentaries from Karcher himself. It is a perfect place for the beginner to start, but contains far more depth than any other ‘beginner’s’ I Ching. If Karcher’s book is all that, why would you want another copy? Simple - to get another perspective. His is not a traditional I Ching, and it doesn’t include the Confucian commentary on each hexagram and line (he doesn’t like the Confucian approach much…). All that - and a great wealth of traditional I Ching interpretation is to be found in Alfred Huang’s ‘Complete I Ching’ Sure enough, as I write this, ‘How to Use the I Ching’ is on the top of one of those piles of books and ‘the Complete I Ching’ is on the top of the other one! It has another fascinating introduction, which includes many ways of consulting the oracle that you won’t find elsewhere. The translation itself is in crisp, modern English, yet still with a distinctive traditional Chinese flavour. Likewise Huang’s own commentaries on the hexagrams are the product of centuries of I Ching tradition, but he can still relate them sensitively to modern concerns. I often turn to Huang for his translations of the commentaries - clear, poetic and uniquely easy to relate to. I also very much value his personal comments on the changing lines, which seek to explain their meanings in terms of the way they relate to one another. And finally, this book is very handy as a quick reference for patterns within the I Ching, with every hexagram having ‘additional reference information’ at the end. To give you an idea of how different these two translations can be, even though they both consistently use one word per hexagram, here is the Judgement to Hexagram 43 (Karcher’s extra words, that he shows with italics, I’ve put in (brackets)) ‘Deciding, display (it) in the king’s chambers. There is a connection to the spirits, cry out (even if) there is adversity. 8
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The information originates from the capital. (It is) not advantageous to approach (with) arms. (It is) advantageous to have a direction to go.’ That was Karcher. Now Huang: ‘Eliminating. Declaring at the king’s court; Sincerely howling: There is adversity. Notify one’s own city: Unfavourable to use arms, Favourable to have somewhere to go.’ If you find this more confusing than fascinating, don’t worry. There are many books of commentary on the I Ching out there to help you while you find your own ‘interpreters’ feet’. The best of these that I know of comes from Sarah Dening, the ‘Everyday I Ching’. This is definitely not a book to use as your only I Ching, simply because it isn’t one there’s no translation here. What you do get are clear, intelligent and sensitive comments on every hexagram and line of the oracle. Even if they don’t apply to your particular situation (and it’s so well written that they very often will), they show you a creative way to understand the sometimes obscure imagery in the I Ching and translate it into modern understanding. Dening has actually used the I Ching in her own work as a therapist, and developed a wealth of experience and understanding as a result. This is the book to go to when you’re finding it difficult to get into the imagery of the ancient original. There are many more I Ching books - all those that I’ve bought, used and reviewed - in Clarity’s online I Ching bookstore. Please feel free to drop in and browse! Wherever you choose to find your own I Ching - free download or new book - in the next part of the course you’ll get an understanding of what it’s made of, and how it works.
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Part 4: The working parts Have you got your own I Ching yet? In Part 6, you’ll learn an easy method of consulting it. But first I’d like to share a little more of the extraordinary architecture of the I Ching, the ideas and concepts that give you your reading. Please bear with me! This is the knowledge you need really to understand what is happening when you consult the I Ching: it’s what makes it a complete and beautiful world of divination, not just a random collection of obscure aphorisms. (And it also gives Amazon time to deliver you your own copy!) In Chinese thought, the whole universe is built up from two fundamental forces, yin and yang. These aren’t ‘forces’ as in ‘force of gravity’, however: they are more like ways of relating, and they only exist in relation to one another. You can see that this is true from the Chinese characters for yin and yang: yin shows the shaded side of a hill, yang show the sunny side. You can’t have half a hill, and you can’t have yin without yang or yang without yin. Yang is dynamic, it starts things and drives them forward; it is bright and vivid. Yin is more passive, flexible and responsive, receiving the yang impulse and growing it into something real. What’s more, everything is always moving and changing, and so the beings with yin qualities are constantly becoming more yang, while yang becomes more yin. This is the basic Chinese understanding of every cycle of nature: the sun shines out (yang), then sets (yin); the moon waxes (yang) and wanes (yin); the summer changes to autumn and winter changes to spring. The I Ching adds that those who are small and humble naturally grow, and those who are ‘over-full’ are naturally diminished. If you’ve read any books on feng shui, you may well have seen long tables comparing and contrasting yin and yang. But the I Ching is both older and simpler than these systems, which have their roots in the basic insights it contains. All you need to remember is that yang initiates and drives things, yin receives and responds. The I Ching’s 64 hexagrams are simply stacks of six lines, which can be broken (yin) or solid (yang). The lines represent the way yin and yang are interacting and working 10
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together in this unique situation. The energy flows upwards through the lines, from the bottom line to the top: you can almost think of them as footprints, visible signs of the way everything is moving. For example…
X Hexagram 24 represents return and rebirth: any situation that is completely turned around and begins afresh. The yang energy of light and initiative is represented only in the first, bottom line: it is just beginning to enter the situation. There is a tradition that this hexagram represents the winter solstice, the darkest moment of the year that is also the moment when light begins its return. The dark, quiet yin still dominates the situation: this isn’t an instant return, like turning on the light, and people who receive this hexagram are often feeling impatient. But the yin lines are open to welcome the returning yang, they offer no resistance. You can see how in time it will grow and surge up through the hexagram. When you consult the I Ching, the answer begins as just one of the 64 hexagrams, capturing the essence of what is involved. But in most answers, it doesn’t stop there. You’ll remember that I said yin and yang were perpetually changing into one another? This understanding is also represented in the way the I Ching works. Even though there are just the two kinds of lines - broken yin, solid yang - there are really four distinct energies that can be present: Young yin, which has just become yin and will be stable for a while Old yin, which is just changing into yang Young yang, newly yang and stable for now Old yang, changing into yin. The hexagram of your answer can contain any combination of these kinds of line. Usually there are one or two that are changing their state; sometimes (in one reading in 4) none are. Very, very occasionally, everything will be in flux, and all six lines will be changing! Associated with every line of the I Ching is a ‘line text’. If a line is changing, or ‘moving’, you read its text: an image telling you exactly where you stand (or might choose to stand) in relation to the landscape painted by the hexagram as a whole.
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Aside: One of the most common questions from I Ching beginners (and advanced users) is how to cope with the readings with many changing lines. See lesson 6 of the I Ching Correspondence Course for many strategies and worked examples. And I’ll be happy to help you to learn to get the most out of your own readings through the personal tuition option.
But as well as the line text(s), moving lines also give you a further perspective on your question. When all the moving lines have changed into their opposites - broken becoming solid, solid becoming broken - a new hexagram is created, called the Relating Hexagram. This can show you how the situation could develop, or how you personally are responding to it. Often it shows the energies that you are bringing to the situation, so that the points in it represented by the moving lines change to connect it with you. Do you begin to see the scope and subtlety of this? You can find out what the situation is and where you stand in it, and also develop a greater understanding of yourself and your role. All this from the unfolding of just two simple energies, yin and yang. In fact, there is a lot more technical information you can use to explore the full depth of the I Ching. As your relationship with it develops, you’ll probably want to look further into the hexagrams of sequence, the contrasts and opposites, nuclear hexagram and patterns of change. You can explore all these at onlineClarity, or in the introduction to How to Use the I Ching. For now, though, the most important thing is to start a conversation with the oracle. The next part of the course will look at some of the questions you might ask…
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Part 5: Finding the real question By now you have a strong, solid understanding of what the I Ching is, where it comes from, and the ideas behind it. Hopefully you also have a I Ching of your own! But try to tear yourself away from it for long enough to read this, and I’ll show you how to make the most of your relationship with this extraordinary oracle. This is the longest section so far - for good reason! What is the first and most important thing in any act of divination? The oracle you use, the translation you buy, the method and ritual you observe? IMHO, none of the above. The most important thing from the start - the foundation for the whole experience - is the question you ask. Before you phrase the question, you need to immerse yourself in it. Let all the issues, hopes and fears involved come to the surface. Sometimes when people ask questions they haven’t clearly thought out, the I Ching will encourage them to ‘retrace the oracle consultation to its source’. You can do this before you start. What has brought you to the oracle? What do you want to achieve? How do you expect this answer to help? What are you expecting to hear… dreading hearing… hoping to hear? Odd but true: to bring a real question to the oracle, you have to begin by asking yourself a series of searching questions! Think of it as the beginning of the conversation. The I Ching is asking silently ‘How can I help? What do you need me to show you?’ You owe it to your Self to be fully present in your answer. Often this process will lead you straight to the question you want to ask. If it doesn’t, ask yourself this: ‘What do I most need to know about this?’ Basically there are three different questions you are likely to find yourself asking the I Ching: What is happening here? Please explain! What can I do to change this? Please show me how! What if I tried doing this? Please show me what this might lead to!
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In other words, you might be asking for a description, or for advice, or for prediction. Any of these is fine - so long as you are clear in your own mind about what you are expecting from the answer. Before you cast your hexagram (more about how to do that in the next part of this course!), write your question down. Often a single problem will lead you to ask all three kinds of question in turn, as your conversation with the I Ching develops your ideas. (If in doubt, start by asking for a picture of the situation.) The I Ching itself may choose to answer with a combination of description and advice according to what you most need at the time. But it will almost always give you a direct answer to your question. Why ‘almost’?? Because sometimes what we ask doesn’t reflect what is really bothering us, or what we really need to know in that moment. I find that such answers are rare indeed - most often, the I Ching can find a way to answer my question directly and also to show me any misconceptions behind it. Unless the reading speaks to you quite clearly about something else, I would definitely recommend that you assume that the oracle has answered your question straightforwardly. Otherwise there is always the temptation to say ‘no, that can’t be right, it must be about something else!’ Are there any wrong questions? There’s certainly nothing you can’t ask about. (Though people who try to use the oracle for immoral ends may well find that it doesn’t say what they’d like to hear!) But there are good and bad ways to phrase your question. Take, for example, the question ‘Am I going to become a millionaire and am I going to marry the girl of my dreams?’ Not a good question - at least three things wrong with it, in fact! Firstly, there are two questions here. They need asking one at a time. Likewise, asking the I Ching questions with alternatives in, like ‘should I do this or that?’, does not work well. You just need to follow the tradition of the earliest diviners and ask two questions: ‘What if I tried option a?’; ‘what about option b?’ Back to our useless question, now reduced to ‘Am I going to become a millionaire?’ Well, there are just two answers to that: ‘yes’, or ‘no’. The I Ching has 64 hexagrams, and 384 lines, and none of them say ‘yes’ or ‘no’! That doesn’t mean you can’t get a straight answer from it - just that it is well equipped to say to you ‘actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that…’ - and it often will! 14
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And that leads us straight to the basic problem. If someone asked you this question, how would you answer them? Maybe ‘I don’t know, what are you planning to do to become a millionaire?’ Seems sensible. Yet it’s amazing how many people encounter an oracle and seem to forget who is actually in control of their lives. The I Ching might answer something like ‘Well, if you do nothing about it, you won’t get far. But if you were to try this…’ In other words, you have free will. What happens depends in the first place on what you do. There are more productive and more interesting questions to ask than just ‘What’s going to happen to me?’ Like ‘If I devote my whole life utterly to promoting my new musical toothpicks, will it make me a millionaire?’ (Hmmm. Whatever. But as a question for the I Ching, this really is a great improvement.) One other point - other people have free will, too. So there’s no definitive answer to ‘will my Aunt Aggie lend me the money?’ if Aggie hasn’t decided yet. You might learn how she feels about it at the moment, but she’s free to change her mind.
I said that there were three basic questions you could ask. Actually there is a fourth: What do I need to know now? Nothing more than that: no subject, no preconceptions. This is a quiet, meditative approach to the I Ching, allowing you to interact with it in a completely different way. When you’ve tried clear, direct questions, try this as well - simply opening yourself to whatever the universe has to tell you in this moment. In the next chapter: the simplest, most popular way to consult the I Ching.
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Part 6: How to consult This is where we get down to brass tacks - once you’ve chosen your question, how do you actually consult the oracle? This three-coin method is the most popular, and you can use it straight away. You will need three identical coins with recognisably different faces - the coins in your purse are fine, though you can buy special Chinese coins if you wish. Throw the three coins together. Each head counts three; each tail counts two. Add up the result - it will be 6,7,8 or 9. (And don’t worry about the numbers - they’re just a convenient way to get a reading.) Number 6
Line-type changing broken line
Yin/yang old yin
7 8 9
unchanging solid line unchanging broken line changing solid line
young yang young yin old yang
Written
Or if you’d rather not have numbers to remember, just remember this: Three tails: Two tails, one head: Two heads, one tail: Three heads:
Record the line you have received. This is the first, i.e. bottom line of your hexagram Repeat the same process five more times, working from the bottom up to the 6th and last line. Write down all six lines, and you have the key to your answer - the primary hexagram. You remember - the basic answer, the landscape where you find yourself. Now, did you get any changing lines? 16
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If not, this hexagram is your answer. This is where things stand and where they stay: read the basic texts and commentaries in your translation, but none of the line texts. (Much more information on what to do with a single-he xagram answer in Lesson 7 of the full course.) If you did receive changing lines, then as well as reading the basic texts for the hexagram, you also read the ones associated with the changing lines you received. And then - let them change! Every old yin becomes young yang Every old yang becomes young yin The other lines stay the same. And you’ve built your relating hexagram. If you’ve got your I Ching (even just a free one you downloaded) why not consult it now? Ask yourself what you most need to know to make your life better, and it probably won’t be hard to think of a question! (But if you still can’t think of one, the question you need to ask is simple: ‘What role is there for the I Ching in my life?’) Go on. Believe me, actually consulting the I Ching is the only way you’ll learn to understand the answers. Could anyone get to know you just by browsing through your photo album? But odd though this seems, there are academics out there who imagine they can ‘know’ the I Ching just by reading about it…
So - with your reading done, you’re probably experiencing one of two reactions: “Aha!” or “Eh??” If it’s “aha!” - if you are enveloped by an extraordinary feeling of being understood and recognised, if deep knowledge you never imagined you had is stirring within you, if you can feel the first tremors of a great inner explosion of new ideas, if you are smiling at the book or weeping over it… then you are one of the lucky and gifted few! Most people don’t achieve such a wonderful rapport with the I Ching on their first reading. I know I didn’t. 17
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So if it’s “Eh??”, what next? First, understand there is nothing wrong with the I Ching, and there’s nothing wrong with you. The I Ching’s been working for some 3,000 years, it hasn’t broken yet. And in a way, your intuition is still older. Don’t worry: given time and acceptance, it will work for you. Tomorrow I’ll show you a sample reading, but for now why not take the time to live with your own for a while? I’m not going to try to sell you my professional help with it until you’ve had the time to absorb it for yourself. This is your answer.
Read right through your whole answer Try reading what the I Ching said without paying much attention to the translator’s commentaries Look at the actions the I Ching describes, and look for them in your life. Does the I Ching mention any people? Armies, kings, sages? Do you recognise them? Let your imagination play with the images. Enjoy them! Let it rest: why not get away from the computer screen and go outside for a while? Sleep on it.
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Part 7: A sample reading While there’s really no substitute for experience in building your own relationship with the I Ching, I think you’ll still find it helpful to look at a sample answer from someone else. So here it is: “What’s the potential in this relationship?” Her relationship was not in good health. Her partner was violent and abusive, and they’d already split up several times in the past. But she couldn’t bring herself to make a conclusive break - she felt as if there must be something of value to be saved. So she asked the I Ching about the future potential of her relationship. It answered with primary hexagram 48, the Well, with the first line changing, giving a relating hexagram of 5, Waiting - or, as Alfred Huang calls it in his Complete I Ching, Needing. It’s sometimes a help actually to start with the relating hexagram, because it can show how you relate to the issues. She is the one who is waiting and watching for what she needed. She needs the emotional sustenance of a relationship like a parched field needed rain. Of course, she doesn’t need violence and abuse any more than the fields needed storms and floods… ‘Needing. Being sincere and faithful. Brilliantly prosperous and smooth. Being steadfast and upright: good fortune. Favorable to cross great rivers.’ Huang explains that this means both waiting for what you need, and also confronting danger. But not all of the I Ching’s words here seem to apply - things are not brilliant, and being steadfast in the relationship had not brought good fortune. Perhaps there could be another way to be steadfast and upright? Maybe by taking the risk of crossing the river to something completely new? Overall, the relating hexagram seems to be more about what she desperately needs than what she has right now. ‘The superior person eats and drinks, feasting with joy.’ She is on something more like a starvation diet: waiting for the climate in the relationship to change, but suffering in the meantime. 19
Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004
What she really needs to know is whether the wait is worthwhile. The primary hexagram should tell her more of the objective reality of the situation - what is it really about? ‘Replenishing. The site of a village may be moved, Not the well. Neither loses nor gains. Coming and going, drawing, drawing. Nearly out of the well, Break one’s bucket - misfortune.’ The well has to be the source of sustenance she is looking for. Somewhere deep in this relationship, surely she can find what she needs? The relationship certainly came and went, she moved in and out, drawing water from its well to keep her alive, but whatever was there stayed the same. The only problem came when she couldn’t quite get to the water… But to find out exactly where she stands, she needs to look at the moving line: ‘Mud in the well. No drinking. Old well, no birds.’ She can almost smell the stagnant, lifeless water. What she needs is just not here. Looking back at her original question, she’d actually asked about the future potential of the relationship. It’s not just that this is what she has experienced in the past - she can expect more of the same. (Note: all the readings I do for customers are completely confidential: I never quote them, not even anonymously. This reading is based on a sample question and answer in ‘The I Ching Made Easy’ by Amy and Rod Sorrell. And they report that, after this reading, the questioner finally managed to break free.) To sum up You might like to look at the relating hexagram first. But remember it’s your response to the situation, maybe what you need or fear most. (Actually, evaluating the role of the relating hexagram in your reading is probably the most difficult part: lesson 5 of the full I Ching Correspondence Course is devoted to this.) 20
Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004
The primary hexagram contains the beginnings of the objective answer to your situation. The moving line - or lines - offer the most direct, personal response. Look to them for the definitive answer to your question. No moving lines? Then your whole answer is right here in this hexagram - and it’s a very emphatic one! For example, I once asked about advertising in magazines. The I Ching came back with Hexagram 54, the Marrying Maiden, with no moving lines. This hexagram describes a young girl who arrives in a household as the second wife, so she’s stuck in a subordinate position. There's no point in her trying to take control or pursue her personal goals. This was simple and to the point - I couldn’t compete with the huge, established companies that already advertised in the magazines. Better not to get into such an unrewarding situation. (And so I didn’t!) I hope you are enjoying your own conversation with the I Ching! I’ll step out now and leave you to get to know each other ;-)
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Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004
Part 8: What now? As you’ve worked your way through this course, you’ve built up an impressive knowledge of the I Ching. You know where it comes from and what it can be used for. You can recognise a good translation when you see one. You know how the I Ching works, the technical jargon can’t faze you. You know how to find the right questions to ask the I Ching - and you’ve talked with the oracle yourself. I hope you’re impressed with yourself! :-) Do you begin to see the potential of what you have begun here? You could use the I Ching to get to grips with the most important issues in your own life, to clarify your dreams and find practical ways to make them happen. And you have the opportunity to help your friends and family to do the same. I’ve found helping others through the I Ching to be fantastically rewarding. I wish I could explain how much! (I won’t succumb to hype and tell you that “this will change your life”. It could – but it’s your life to change, how and when you want.) So how can you take this to the next level, and grow the seed you’ve planted here into a skill you can feel confident in? Become a friend If you are to become truly confident in your I Ching divination skills, there is simply no substitute for experience. As you connect the hexagrams of the I Ching with real life, your own understanding will grow. But you can magnify this growth enormously by sharing your insights, and asking for help, in a community. I would like to invite you to join the Friends of Clarity, who share readings and advice at the I Ching Community. People come from all over the globe, and bring a wealth of experience in both the I Ching and other divination methods. This is what makes Clarity - according to Pocossin, one of the members there - ‘absolutely the most practical I Ching site on the Internet. … There is nothing like it even in print’ Get some different translations Even with a dozen or so I Ching translations stacked on my desk (and a good few more on the bookshelf…), I still find I gain new insights from every new translation or commentary I read. There is so much depth in this oracle that I don’t think one person could ever find it all. 22
Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004
But reading more I Ching books is not just a matter of ‘collecting’ interpretations until you have one for every occasion! Seeing the wealth of interpretations that are possible lets you reach towards the unchanging core they share, and it frees you to develop your own understanding. As I add I Ching books to my own collection (and only then!), I also review them in the I Ching Bookstore - please feel free to visit and browse!
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Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004
