Hilary Barrett, I Ching

I love those times when wise people unwittingly echo the Yijing. Here’s one such moment: How to make commitments you will actually keep. Scott Young talks about how, in order to keep our commitments, it helps to understand that we’re a community of selves. The motivated one, the apathetic one, the peaceful one, the infuriated [...]

I had this conversation again with a client the other day. Which was better, for me to cast the hexagram on her behalf, or for her to do it herself? Some people are concerned that if they cast for themselves, their own desires might somehow make the oracle ‘go wrong’; they want the hexagram cast [...]

Oh look… a new post at the Great Vessel blog. They have new forums (including an ‘ask Stephen Karcher’ area), a new example reading, a revised links page, and a promise of more good things to come. Watch that space.

(A good friend who received Hexagram 9 in response to a profound personal reading, as part of the image of her self, asked me how I saw it. So here are some pictures of Small Taming.) The key concept for hexagram 9 and hexagram 26 is chu, ‘Taming’ or ‘Accumulating’. The old forms of the [...]

A single I Ching reading brings insight, answers questions, and reconnects you with your inner sense of direction. A series of readings does all this, and it can also multiply the effects exponentially. The connections between readings show you how the different aspects of your life relate together, and give you a steady stream of [...]

When I removed the £7 reading option, I also offered to do a few free readings each month for people who couldn’t otherwise afford one. Well – this is going well and proving popular, to the point where I’ve already hit my ‘quota’ for January. There’ll be more slots in February, though, so let me [...]

And here is a counterbalance to my own new year’s intention to consult more regularly. Oddly enough, it seems we’re both aiming in the same direction – to trust more, and hold onto control less.