Newsletter thoughts
Firstly, thank you very much to everyone who has written in with ideas and book reviews. And I'm very sorry (Mark, Watersun, Lindsay…) that I can't include it all here. But this newsletter has just been getting way too l-o-n-g, and I have to streamline it a bit! Your contributions will definitely appear in future issues.

As part of this streamlining, the survey will now be only an occasional feature here. 26 respondents at the time of writing, from a subscriber list of about 1000 plus a few thousand site visitors - could it possibly be that surveys are just not very interesting? ;)

San Shan Yi Jing upgrade
See the 'recommendations' page for a list of what this excellent I Ching software now includes - with no increase in the absurd £29.99 price-tag. Yes, the interface takes some getting used to, but the contents are beyond price. Why not try the free, no-time-limit download?

(In case you're wondering - no, I don't get a commission!)

Back to table of contents

™Letter to the Editor—

"Hello Hilary,

I`d like to respond to the letter of Ricardo Fernandez in the Newsletter #17. I also have the experience that more and more I rely on my own to make a decision rather than consulting the I Ching. I use the I Ching for 8 years now, the first few years very intense. In those days I was so insecure and uncertain I didn't dare to make any decision without consulting. But now I am older and have more self-confidence, I rarely consult the I Ching, but find the answer myself.

I think it is also related to the fact that during the past 8 years I have changed, when I look at myself, I was more arrogant and vain and had a big ego 8 years ago, when I studied at art school. But now, as Ricardo mentioned, I am able to detach myself more and more from my ego and feel better and happier than ever. Also the relation with other people and family has improved.

I'd like to add something about consulting without a question. My mother uses cards for divination, and her advice is to be as blank and empty as possible when you lay the cards. The subject of your problem will appear in the cards by itself. It can be interesting to try this method when consulting the I Ching.

Hilary, my thanks to you for all your work, for your newsletter and the possibility you give us to get in touch with like-minded people.

Best wishes,
Pamela Kocken,
Amsterdam - The Netherlands."

Thank you, Pamela - and thanks too to your mother :) When I'm reading for people I never meet in the flesh - for now, anyway, I'll hold to the I Ching's stunning directness in response to a direct question, with a lot of gratitude and respect. But I do find personally that these completely open readings can be very valuable - giving the I Ching the chance to tell me exactly what I need to hear...

™DIY Corner: nuclear hexagram notes—

In the last issue's links section, I mentioned Michael Daniels' online I Ching. Well, some 24 of you visited the site, and Nancy had a question about it:

Question:
"I just finished reading the newsletter. I have a question regarding the online I Ching. What is the difference between the author's use of Coming Shadow/do not and the actual meaning for the reading being the nuclear hexagram? Please let me know. How would I interpret a reading from this source?"

Quick background note:
The 'nuclear hexagram' is made from the central lines of the original hexagram. Number the lines of your hexagram from the bottom up, 123,456. Then write a hexagram using the inner lines: 234,345. So for example, the nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 53:

is hexagram 64:

Answer:
Hi Nancy,

Thank you for reading right through! and for asking good questions :)

There are many different ideas about how to understand nuclear hexagrams, but I don't think 'what not to do' is a legitimate one. They are like a kernel or seed in the hexagram - something that is true about the heart of it, but hidden, more potential than actual - something that might happen or that you might have to deal with. Whether it emerges into reality may depend to a large extent on your own choices.

A good example came in a reading about tennis (!!) - Steffi Graf playing at Wimbledon, where she has won again and again. The first hexagram was 14, Great Possession - her past victories and great talents. Its nuclear hexagram is 43 - some sort of public declaration, a decision, a parting? After the match she astonished everyone by announcing her retirement. The potential for this Decision was present from the start, but no-one else knew it was there. If she'd won the match, she might well not have retired at that time, ie it would have stayed potential.

In interpreting readings from Michael Daniels' site, you can work with his own versions of the hexagrams - it may not be the real thing, but it's better than quite a few versions you could buy in the shops! Simply think of the contents of the 'coming shadow/do not' box as potential for you to be aware of, and respond to as you choose.

Back to table of contents

™Book Review—

Many thanks to the people who've written with book recommendations - my apologies for not having the space to include them. I shall simply have to get a copy of Hua Ching Ni's The Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth - I've never known one book recommended by so many people!

But for now, one I own already:

I Ching: The Classic Chinese Oracle of Change
Stephen Karcher

This is a 'fully revised edition' of the I Ching with concordance by Stephen Karcher and Rudolf Ritsema, commonly and affectionately known as 'R&K'. I owe a huge amount to that book: its uniquely liberating approach really launched my own relationship with the I Ching. Certainly without it I'd never have started Clarity.

The revised version keeps the great strengths of the original. First and most important, its character-by-character translation, with every word glossed for all its associations and native imagery. This lets you discover symbolic themes running through your answer - with a traditional translation, you'd never have known they were there.

Then there is the concordance. Every character is always translated with the same word - and you can turn to the back of the book and find a list of all the places where a given character occurs. Then open an ordinary translation, and find all the different ways in which this word is translated!

I would use this translation before any other. But if you prefer to begin with something a little more comprehensible, you could still use this as a wonderful reference book. Open it and find out which words in your translation are really in the I Ching, and which are part of the translator's understanding. Discover which characters are repeated in your answer, but translated differently in your traditional version. Immerse yourself in the underlying web of images and grasp the meaning of your reading for yourself.

This book also has an excellent in-depth introduction, written both to be intelligible to beginners, and to open new possibilities for the more experienced user. Yin and yang, key words from the I Ching, trigrams and the Five Elements (or 'Five Transformative Moments'), how to consult with coins, yarrow or sixteen tokens - it's all there. There are also five intriguing example readings - not easy to describe, you'll just have to get the book!

The original version had its problems. Basically, it was so free and open as to be very hard to understand. In the revised edition, this problem is largely overcome. In the first place, the text has been edited to be that bit more intelligible. Secondly, there is now clear, succinct commentary on the hexagrams and lines. This builds on the commentaries in Karcher's supremely useful How to Use the I Ching, but goes a lot further, giving us the benefit of many of Karcher's more recent discoveries in I Ching mythology and belief. (He has a complete new I Ching coming out later this year which explores all these ideas in much greater depth. Watch this space…)

This I Ching is still about as far from an 'instant answers', 'fortune cookie' style translation as you can get: it opens the way for you to create your own understanding. But it is now a lot more user-friendly in giving you a place to start. The revised edition is a wonderful I Ching for anyone who would like to get closer to the oracle than ordinary translations allow - experienced user or courageous beginner. Dive in and enjoy!

• Available in the US
• ... and in the UK

Back to table of contents

™Survey results—

Like I said - no new survey this month. It clears space for more interesting things! If you think of a good subject, though, please do write and tell me, and we'll run your survey directly!

(Meanwhile you can still have your say in any of the surveys from previous months, and view their results - just go to this page to browse them all.)

Last month I asked what you thought divination was for - what was most important? The options ranged from 'vitally important' through to 'not important' - but no-one thought that any of the benefits of divination I mentioned were unimportant. Getting a clear answer and a better understanding of the situation were most important; only seeing into the future regularly ranked as 'not essential'.

The full results are online, but the participants' ideas on what else divination is important for are right here...

From Dharma:

"Recognizing that my situation and I are one and the same, makes the answers that turn up during divination to the questions I've posed, more likely to make sense to me than not. Otherwise, when I don't "like" what's going on "out there" and/or I feel uncomfortable for some reason, I disconnect and separate myself from my situation and I find that I necessarily have a tougher time grasping the message/response I get from divination.

It is therefore important to me that I maintain a humble "acceptance" (as opposed to resistence or denial) of the situation occurring as "rightfully mine" if I am to benefit from reading for myself.

Hmm...I wonder, is this what you were asking? or have I gone off on a different tangent? :)"

Like all your tangents, Dharma, it's a very fruitful one :)

"Vitally important to me is the experience of my superior self that can be invited--or glimpsed--when chatting with Mr.Ching.
blessings,
dr ron"

Yes, thank you - why ever didn't I put 'self-awareness' on that list?

"discovering the connection between my individual experience and universal/archetypal experience" (Anon)

Absolutely! Adding whole new dimensions of meaning…

"reassurance that I'm on the right track"

(Mm - or for me, being jolted wide awake when I'm not!)

Thank you for your thoughts!

Back to table of contents

™Links to explore: I Ching art—