Hilary Barrett, I Ching

Hexagram 35: Advancing, Prospering, Flourishing – I love getting this one in readings and introducing people to it. ‘Prospering, Prince Kang used a gift of horses to breed a multitude. He mated them three times in one day.’ (There are other possible translations – it could be that Kang was received at audience by the [...]

I quite often have people ask me whether I don’t agree that the I Ching is essentially philosophy, and wisdom, and ‘more than just divination.’ And I find it hard to know how to respond. Yes, there is wisdom there, though the only consistent ‘philosophy’ I find is a very simple one: honour what is [...]

Hexagram 5, Waiting or Attending, ends at the 6th line with ‘Entering into the cave There are uninvited guests, Three people come. Honouring them, in the end good fortune.’ So on the one hand the waiting is almost finished – instead of going out and crossing the river to show your readiness to welcome what [...]

Years ago, I wrote that Hexagram 11 seems like the hexagram of love – “not so much love in its various expressions in human relationships, but as a pure, overwhelming cosmic force for creation.” I think it’s also love as power. Certainly I’ve rarely seen it mean a peaceful experience for people who receive the [...]

One of the highlights of Opening Space for Change, for me, was when one of the participants said she’d found her readings had become clearer. This is someone who already has plenty of experience with the Yijing, and she’s a very good interpreter who’s always willing to give plenty of time and attention to a [...]

I’ve been asking people, for the past couple of weeks, why it’s important to them to open space for change. The answers have been eye-opening – and with the first space-opening call today, it seemed a good moment to try to respond myself. Why’s it important to me to open space for change? Because I’ve [...]