I Ching with Clarity

An annual reading, this time: the first thing Maria does on her birthday is to sit down and ask to be shown a reading for the coming year. Here's hers for 2023-24: Hexagram 36, Brightness Hiding, with no changing lines.

Since this was an unchanging reading, we had the time and space to explore some of the hexagram's 'relations': its inverse and contrast, 35, Advancing -

and its complement or opposite - the hexagram where every line is different - 6, Arguing:

And not least, its hidden core, the nuclear hexagram, 40:

...which seemed to open everything out for her.

https://livingchange.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/episode47.mp3

Shock in the background

I've been mulling over how Hexagram 51, Shock, feels as relating hexagram. After all, a relating hexagram is often the background to an answer - scene-setting, a personal theme, the chapter heading for this part of your life. How does something as abrupt as 'Shock' work here?

I've found the basic experience of 51 relating is of the ground falling away under my feet. Of course - as with any hexagram in any position - this can happen on different scales. It could be a complete existential collapse, or something narrow and specific, like technology not behaving as expected. Only the basic 'shape' of things is consistent: what you imagined this all rested on isn't really there. Your next step might be onto solid ground, or then again it might not.

(It's worth remembering that Shock means not only thunder but also earthquake.)

The Oracle of Hexagram 51 paints a very vivid emotional picture:

'Shock, creating success.
Shock comes, fear and terror.
Laughing words, shrieking and yelling.
Shock spreads fear for a hundred miles.
Someone does not lose the sacred ladle and libation.'

I think this falls into two parts: the fear and terror, shrieking and yelling, spreading ripples of panic on the one hand; the one who does not lose the sacred ladle and libation, on the other. So you're both in the centre of the panic, and also - perhaps - you could be the one who holds to enduring truth and isn't infected by the prevailing headless-chicken-itis. Can you be in the midst of the upheaval without losing touch with the essential?

Single lines changing to 51

Six hexagrams are just one line away from Hexagram 51...

Hexagram 16, line 1

'Enthusiasm calling out,
Pitfall.'

How does Enthusiasm work with Shock? Not well, apparently. From the readings I've seen, this 'calling out' tends to be a reaction to shock or insecurity - more headless chicken, not much sacred ladle. The calling out comes without considering the whole picture, or without full understanding; sometimes this is just loud self-expression without listening. (Shock can follow, too, when reality catches up!)

There are also a few readings where I think Yi was using this line to criticise an unconsidered question, especially one that neglected the querent's own agency.

Hexagram 54, line 2

‘With one eye, can see.
A hermit's constancy bears fruit.’

This one seems (also from experience) to be most about the aftermath of shock, and often more gradual subsidence than outright earthquake. What would the marrrying maiden's shock be? Surely having it fully sink in that her standing is not what she might have thought it would be - or your position in this relationship is not what you expected. (I've had it a couple of times when I was expecting to be given credit and status for work, and instead saw it erased. Very bad for the ego!)

But this is a second line, in the inner centre - unlike line 1, which is more likely to be an unmediated/instinctive reaction. There's the possibility here to continue on your own way, by your own lights, and not be disrupted. I think the hermit is a close cousin of the priest who doesn't lose the ladle.

Seeing with one eye, you're not completely unaware - though you can't see everything; the hermit up his mountain isn't aware of everything going on in the valley. (And that could be a useful reflection in itself...) But you can see enough to go on your way, self-possessed, internally rather than externally motivated.

Hexagram 55, line 3

'Feng is flooded with darkness
At midday, seeing a froth of light.
Your right arm broken,
Not a mistake.'

The readings I've seen with this one provide good examples of the variety of scale in readings: from a website going down to a loss of sanity. What follows is confusion, disorientation, bewilderment: Shock striking in the midst of Abundance, at Feng, where there is a lot going on. Here you are in the middle of it all, and incapacitated: unable to do anything about it at all. And apparently this is no bad thing - which makes sense if you remember 16.1. Inaction has to be better than a blind, kneejerk reaction.

The example the Sorrells give for this line in their I Ching Made Simple is of getting into financial trading and finding themselves 'in over our heads'. That's a good choice of language, as there's actually a lot of water imagery here: Feng is darkened, but with a word that also means heavy rainfall; at midday you see dimly, but with a word that also means foam; both characters contain the radical for 'water'. And the name of Hexagram 51 itself includes 'rain'.

Hexagram 24, line 4

‘Walking in the centre, returning alone.’

The Shock isn't evident in the moving line text here, but it's clear enough in reading experience. People are often dealing with disquiet in the aftermath of shock - such as finding yourself unemployed. As Mousse wrote in Shared Readings, "For months, I've been totally lost and unsure about what to do with my life." That seems to sum it up well.

Walking in the centre - with two broken lines one each side of it - this line is in a resonant relationship with 24's solid first line, and so it need not 'follow the crowd'. Instead, there's a process of waking up to your own inner voice, as life is gradually brought back into good order - like the Image of Hexagram 51:

'Rolling thunder. Shock.
A noble one in fear and dread sets things in order and is watchful.'

Hexagram 17, line 5

'True and confident in excellence.
Good fortune.'

Again, there's no Shock apparent in the line itself, but plenty in experience. At line 5, it shows up differently - often as the recurrent disturbance that makes it harder to stay on track. (The I Ching Community archives have two readings with this line for people who were focused on staying sober, and two for people trying to follow a creative path.)

The world at large is not designed to be helpful: you need to keep your own grip on the ladle, holding fast to your own self-respect. The word for 'excellence' has two components: a phonetic element meaning 'place on, confer on, add to' and a drum - which makes me wonder whether I should be hearing the |:: |:: of Hexagram 51 as the drumbeat.

Hexagram 21, line 6

Looking back through the 'story so far'...

16.1 seems disconnected from the real world, calling out without listening; 54.2 has limited insight but retains self-direction; 55.3 is similarly limited, but without mistake - maybe even because it can't act. 24.4 walks in the midst of it all but rediscovers its own way, and 17.5 holds fast to what is praiseworthy no matter what.

The pattern that emerges for me is of being in the middle of the action, but still going your own way - internally, not externally motivated, despite everything that's going on around you. It's that basic 'shape' of Hexagram 51: spreading panic and someone not losing the ladle - except that your own way is not always necessarily the best idea. 21.6, for instance...

'Shouldering a cangue so your ears disappear.
Pitfall.'

... takes that theme of being internally, not externally motivated to the wrong extreme when it stops listening.

Punishment, in Hexagram 21, isn't supposed to be a shock: it's meant to be understood. That's why the ancient kings brought light to punishments, why inner thunder translates into outer light. Only this can't happen if you can't listen, as often seems to be the case with this line. (My most recent journal entry for 21.6 describes it as a moment of being 'punch drunk', unable to take more in - and sure enough, disastrously missing the point.)

Reflections and examples

So here's 51 relating: coping with insecurity, with uncertainty, and trying to find self-determination anyway. 'Coping with uncertainty' might sound like relating hexagram 4 - Not Knowing - or 29 - Repeating Chasms, and there are some similarities.

Hexagram 4 also isn't certain and would really like to be - but it doesn't have 51's deep insecurity, and it does have a place to stand and a way to find out (if not as much or as fast as it would like). With 51 relating, that feeling of having no solid ground underfoot can be overwhelming.

Hexagram 29 is also floundering in the emotional depths, but it's more in the dark than 51. With 51 going on, you probably know exactly where you are (unemployed, or homeless, or dealing with someone emotionally volatile) - you just have no idea what might happen next.

Hexagram 2 changing to 51 shows this very simply and directly:

'Treading on frost,
Hard ice is arriving.'
'Tied up in a bag.
No blame, no praise.'

The signs of the times are clear and immediate, crunching underfoot; the contents of the bag are unknowable.

Of course, if understanding it all now is vital, you're in trouble - as in 21.6, and also as in 62.1.3 to 51:

'Bird in flight means a pitfall.'
'Not going past, he defends himself.
Someone following may strike him down.
Pitfall.'

Small exceeding demands that you meet the reality: listen to the bird, get the message. This doesn't easily happen in a state of Shock, and so you end up both with 51's panic (line 1) and missing the essential / losing the ladle (line 3). Being in the midst of it 62 without complete connection doesn't go well.

(I received this one many years ago when asking about recurrent episodes of gastric upset - which had me thoroughly 51-d as I've always been ridiculously healthy. I was flapping about, following pet theories, cutting back on wheat and sugar - and only realised much later, after a bout that laid me out for a week, that this was actually food poisoning from raw milk.)

Overall, 51 relating seems to mean a fine balancing act is required between awareness of present reality and truth to one's own path. Take 49.3.5 to 51 -

'Setting out to bring order means a pitfall,
Constancy means danger.
As words of radical change draw near three times,
There is truth and confidence.'
'Great person transforms like a tiger.
Even before the augury, there is truth and confidence.'

Line 3 needs time to create connection and confidence with others; line 5 has a tiger's utterly independent truth and confidence.

This also shows up in line texts as discussion of constancy - see for instance 35.1.6 and 34.2.3, with constancy in different circumstances or with different strategies (nets vs horns!) means different results. Marching (49.3) or charging (35.6, 34.3) ahead regardless through the earthquake zone could be a bad idea - but then so is running aimlessly about trying to dodge the falling masonry.

(Other two-line changes leading to 51, in case you'd like to explore: 40.1.2, 45.1.5, 19.2.4, 58.2.5, 38.2.6, 36.2.4, 22.3.6 and 3.4.5.)

I Ching Community discussion

I've written before about Yi's kindness, but it's something I keep rediscovering.

There's the gentleness of its responses to people in crisis - all degrees of crisis, without judgement. One of my own favourite readings comes from a moment when I suddenly felt I'd experienced the final straw, had nothing left and couldn't cope. I sat on the floor and said, 'Help!'

Yi responded with Hexagram 48, the Well:

'The Well. Moving the city, not moving the well.
Without loss, without gain,
They come and go, the well wells.
Almost drawn the water, but the rope does not quite reach the water,
Or breaking one's clay jug,
Pitfall.'

The Well is still flowing, in all your comings and goings it hasn't gone anywhere, so...

There's another reading that comes down to 'How can I cope?' or just 'Help!' on the 'Aha!' answers thread at the I Ching Community: itsyourlife asked, 'How do I do today?' and cast Hexagram 57 unchanging - Gently Penetrating. She wrote,

"That made me literally break down and I cried for like 10 seconds, composed myself and went on about my business gently. I finished earlier than expected and with ease. Breezy!"

How to do it? Gently. And that's another of Yi's one-hexagram answers - I find Yi often uses unchanging hexagrams when I'm overwhelmed and incapable of taking in anything more complicated. (One more example from the 'Aha!' thread: help with a mental health crisis, Hexagram 14 unchanging.)

Only Yi, being Yi, does not always stop at comfort. There's reassurance, the indescribable sense of being seen - and then there's also the kindness of unstinting honesty, and readings that turn out to be as much question as answer.

Actually, my much-loved Hexagram 48 answer is one of those. The Well is still flowing, in all your comings and goings it hasn't gone anywhere, so... why do you feel as though you have nothing left? What's going on with your rope and bucket?

Kafuka had a similar Hexagram 48 experience, though with the presence of mind to form a question beyond 'Help!': "I asked what could I do to stop having those "I'd better be dead" thoughts and got 48.4>28". Line your well!

I experienced this fierce kindness again a little while ago, when I had - laughably - been trying to be tactful, and ended up saying something appallingly insulting and hurtful. That's the short version: I've told the whole, sorry story in WikiWing.

In a complete emotional tailspin immediately afterwards, I asked Yi how to cope with my own crashing rudeness, and cast Hexagram 44 with the 6th line changing:

'Coupling with your horns.
Shame.
Not a mistake.'

There's the kindness of being seen - I had, exactly, gone in with horns lowered, which of course meant I couldn't see where I was going, and caused unintended injury. 'Shame' - well, yes. And then there was comfort: 'No mistake' - no, all the catastrophic consequences I was imagining were not real. The person I'd injured had already, with vast kindness, told me I was forgiven.

So in the moment, this reading let me breathe again and start to return to something like stability. But looking back on it now, and remembering other times I've received Hexagram 44, I've started asking bigger questions, like 'Who/ what is that powerful, unmarriageable woman?'

I think I recognise her in the inner impulse that tells me I really have to step up and do/ say something - 44 is the pair of 43, after all - but at a moment when there is no good way to do/say it, as there is nowhere it can be received, no king's chamber to speak in: this woman is not to be married. (With a different line active - 44.5, perhaps - there might be a way.)

And the deeper kindness of this, the one that emerges as I reflect on a series of readings over the course of years, is that now I recognise what that obligation-impulse feels like, and I get the chance to learn something, maybe. Perhaps, if I remember these readings at the critical moment, I might even avoid some horns-first blunders in future.

(There are countless examples of kind, blunt, honest, eye-opening readings in the 'Aha!' answers thread - I can recommend it.)

I Ching Community discussion

In this episode, Katarina and I discuss her reading about moving to a new part of the country - Hexagram 7, the Army, changing at line 2 to 2, Earth:

As we talk about her plans, you can hear the qualities of the hexagrams - that meeting of organised focus with openness to guidance that's found in the moving line, where the general must stay on the alert for new orders...

'Positioned in the centre of the army.
Good fortune, no mistake.
The king issues a mandate three times.'

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We love the layered profundity of the Yijing's imagery - the way it can speak direct to the soul, giving us entirely new ways of seeing our situation. We know that the Vessel of Hexagram 50 might be a university, or a mindset, or a state of health, or any of countless sacred containers. We know that the Nourishment in hexagram 27 can be emotional, social or spiritual - we might take it as a cue to look at our deep needs, and how we are trying to meet them.

And also... sometimes a roof beam is just a roof beam. Sometimes the Yi is astonishingly direct.

14 line 2, for instance:

'A great chariot to carry loads.
With a direction to go, no mistake.'

This line always makes me think of 'vehicle' in analysis of metaphor - that's the image the metaphor gives us to think in. (For instance, if you call a beautiful woman a 'rose', the rose is the 'vehicle'.) This line, with its connection to Hexagram 30, Clarity, can be about having a big enough idea or understanding that it can carry your whole life to a new place.

I've also seen it, several times, referring to a removal van.

Then there's Hexagram 47, Confined: the name of the hexagram means to be trapped, surrounded, hard-pressed, hemmed in, in straits, exhausted, impoverished, and so on. We contemplate its trigrams, the powerful flow of water as the whole outer lake drains down into the inner stream, and reflect on the current of psychic energy downward and inward, away from interaction and into inner resolve. So did the Image authors, who saw the noble one 'carrying out the mandate, fulfilling her aspiration'.

And it can also mean 'Your car is boxed in by a fire engine.'

Yi can be very literal about the human body, too. This old tennis reading is one of my favourite examples, not least for the way the oracle was playing games with my expectations. In a similar vein (though less fun): Marien asked about her week ahead, casting first 39 unchanging - Limping, Difficulties - and then, when she asked what kind of difficulty, 34.1:

'Vigour in the toes.
Setting out to bring order: pitfall.
There is truth and confidence.'

You might be able to guess what happened next - or you can read it here.

On the same thread, I came across Hexagram 27 as a reminder to eat lunch, and Hexagram 44 in answer to 'How can we have a baby?' (They did, and they did.)

And from the life-changing to the trivial, it turns out Yi also talks very literally about modern technology. I once struggled for a long time with a web page that refused to appear. Yi's comment: 8.6: 'Seeking union without a head.' The page was missing its closing tag. And there's this example with 48.1.3 to 60 talking about a stale cache of menu segments. Or - a bit less hopelessly geeky - 8.3 for an email sent to the wrong person.

...and so on...

Funnily enough, this occasional literalism is yet another reason why the oracle's imagery can never be replaced by abstract explanations.

Of course, an image that applies absolutely literally might also have layers - which is only another way of saying that synchronicity happens. It often works that way for me: a reading's imagery will be reflected very directly in daily life, and that will give me a picture of something bigger at work. Thank heavens for an oracle that explains things to me nice and slowly...

I Ching Community discussion

Confusion...

Hexagram 8's called bi, Seeking Union or Belonging (or Union, Alliance, Grouping, Joining, Holding Together, Closeness...)
And Hexagram 13 is tong ren, People in Harmony (or Fellowship, Cooperation, Community, Union of Men...)

According to the dictionary, we have one hexagram name that means (amongst other things) 'to share with, join, coincide with, similarity, likeness...' and another that means 'bring together, compare, align with, collaborate, accord with, agree...'. Looking in the dictionaries that concentrate on the earliest meanings, both include 'ally with' among their meanings.

Then there are commentators who'll tell you that both are about coming together, friendship, community, collaboration and building alliances. Hexagram 8, Seeking Union, can also mean the development of an inner agreement, as you learn to co-ordinate your own inner world... and so too can Hexagram 13. And finally, each hexagram has its own associated mythical/legendary story, both of which are about a great gathering and alliance at the inauguration of a new dynasty.

So what is the difference between Hexagram 8, Seeking Union/ Belonging, and Hexagram 13, People in Harmony?

Revisiting the dictionary

While there's certainly some overlap in the meanings of bi and tong, there are some helpful distinctions, too. Bi, the name of Hexagram 8, specifically means comparison or analogy: metaphor, the comparison we use so as to relate to something and understand it better. Tong, on the other hand, is used as a verb to mean unifying things or making them uniform - musical pitches, for instance, or weights and measures.

Tong is very much about harmony and unanimity. There's a revealing passage in the Book of History, on the examination of doubts:

'If you have doubts about any great matter, consult with your own heart; consult with your nobles and officers; consult with the masses of the people; consult the tortoise and milfoil. If you, the tortoise, the milfoil, the nobles and officers and the common people all consent to a course, this is what is called a great concord, and the result will be the welfare of your person and good fortune to your descendants.'

(Legge translation)

The 'concord' in 'great concord' is tong: all these disparate and unrelated sources, from oracles to the man in the street, in harmony.

So it seems to me that while both hexagrams might result in an alliance, each would arise in a different way. Hexagram 8 would be finding or choosing connections and allies, while 13 would be hard at work creating them. Certainly that's been my experience with Hexagram 13: less often 'people are in harmony', more often 'time to think about bringing people into harmony'.

Oracles

'Seeking union, good fortune.
At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.
No mistake.
Realms not at peace are coming.
For the latecomer, pitfall.'

Oracle of Hexagram 8

‘People in harmony in the wilds: creating success.
Fruitful to cross the great river.
A noble one’s constancy bears fruit.’

Oracle of Hexagram 13

I've written about the inner logic of Hexagram 8's Oracle before - and about 13. Putting the two next to one another like this, I mostly notice the difference between their omens. Hexagram 8: good fortune, pitfall. Hexagram 13: crossing the great river, and the noble one's constancy, are fruitful. One is about what's lucky or unlucky, one is about what actions will bear fruit.

In Hexagram 8 you have a straightforward contrast: those who seek to join have good fortune; the latecomers don't. (The fact that good fortune comes at the beginning of the text and 'pitfall' at the very end tells the story plainly.) Find your source, join the flow, and you can't go wrong - really, all that's asked of you here is to join promptly, sincerely, without hesitation. But Hexagram 13 is heng ('creating success'), creative work, requiring that you go across the river, against the current and out of the comfort zone, creating momentum with your own efforts.

Stories

Both of these hexagrams have (probable) allusions to an ancient story of gathering allies. Hexagram 8 has Yu's gathering after the conquest of the floods -

Those lines about the restless ones who come, and the pitfall for the latecomer, allude to the story of Yu the Great. After decades of hard toil, he had conquered the floods, and he called the lords and spirits together to found a new world. The character translated ‘on all sides’ is Fang, and it was Fang Feng who came late to Yu’s gathering and was executed. (More on that here.)

Hexagram 13 has Wu's gathering of Zhou allies in the Wilds of Mu, before they crossed the river for the decisive battle against the Shang.

So one story is set just after the heroic effort, and one is before, but both are about to found a dynasty.

The differences are striking, though, aren't they? Yu the Great is very much a mythic figure, and his work seems to me at once simpler and more mystical: redirecting the flow of the waters, dealing with monsters, casting the vessels, creating the group. Wu is a historical king, and his story is legend rather than myth. Yu draws the lords and spirits to him and executes the latecomer; Wu's gathering is the culmination of a multi-generational work of building alliances. Yu was directly chosen by heaven to deal with the floods; Wu had to watch the skies to learn when the Mandate was his.

And the stories carry very different messages in readings. At Yu's gathering, you need to opt in, to ensure you are on the inside. You can compare, find the best fit, follow your natural affinities and what flows together of its own accord. Hexagram 13's message is almost the opposite: its first step is out into the wilds and across the river, outside your own group. You need to develop your awareness of the differences between people so you can forge alliances anyway.

Trigram pictures

These two hexagrams are formed from opposite trigrams: earth and water make Seeking Union -

heaven and fire make People in Harmony -

Hexagram 8's trigrams are the perfect reflection of Yu's completed task: now the rivers are flowing in their courses, over the earth.

'Above earth is the stream. Seeking Union.
The ancient kings founded countless cities for relationships with all the feudal lords.'

This Image has always reminded me that cities are often founded along rivers, to take advantage of these natural connections. The ancient kings' work involves fostering relationships by going along with the natural flow.

And Hexagram 13's trigrams also reflect the story. The Zhou people must watch (li) the skies above (qian) to receive the mandate to act. (This is the very first appearance of the trigram li - fire, light and awareness - in the Sequence, emphasising that this is an 'eye opening' moment.) They will become People in Harmony with one another and with the Mandate of Heaven - a 'Great Concord'!

'Heaven joins with fire. People in harmony.
IIn the same way, the noble one sorts the clans and differentiates between beings.'

Instead of following natural connections, Hexagram 13's noble one needs to trace out natural differences.

A few moving lines

What's the 'view' like from the same line in each hexagram? Just a few...

Line 2

'Seeking union's origin, inside.
Constancy, good fortune.'

Seeking union from the inside is good - this is exactly the right way to go about it. This recalls the opening of Hexagram 8's Oracle:

'Seeking union, good fortune.
At the origin of oracle consultation,
From the source, ever-flowing constancy.'

Admittedly, the Chinese word translated 'origin' isn't the same, but still... It seems to me to echo the same idea: coming from the source works best, because you can be guided by natural feeling.

13 line 2 is also 'inside':

'People in harmony at the ancestral temple.
Shame.'

What could be more inside than the ancestral temple, where we are connected to our spiritual source? But this is a shameful place for people to find harmony. How come?

Commentators have many things to say about this; the text has none at all. The explanation I've found most helpful is that this is too inward-looking, too parochial. If we're fixated on finding perfect unanimity, 'my kind of people', we can end up ignoring the existence of all the other kinds of people - and also sometimes asking too much of the in-group, when we should be looking further afield for support. This isn't a disaster, but it's not the best we could do.

Line 4

Line 2 is the inner centre; line 4 has just emerged into the outer trigram. So here are two 'outside' lines:

'Outside, seeking union.
Constancy, good fortune.'

‘Climbed to the top of your city walls,
No one is capable of attack.
Good fortune.’

A favourable position for both hexagrams - but while Hexagram 8 is still seeking union, Hexagram 13 has to think about defense. 8.4 changes to Hexagram 45, Gathering: seeking union outside is in search of a bigger group and larger goals. 13.4 changes to 37, People in the Home, and the priority here is to develop healthy boundaries. If I'm up on the top of the walls, no-one can attack me, and also I'm not attacking anyone. Good city walls make good, harmonious neighbours.

Line 5

Line 5 is the place for choice, autonomy - normally the highest expression of a hexagram. 8.5 even says specifically that this is a 'demonstration of seeking union' - how it shines out, how it becomes manifest.

'A demonstration of seeking union:
The king uses three beaters,
Lets the game in front go.
The city people are not coerced.
Good fortune.'

This is one of Yi's illustrative vignettes. When the king goes hunting, he's surrounded by beaters to drive the game towards him. (It would be a bad omen were he to come home empty-handed, after all.) But this king has beaters on only three sides, leaving one side open. And in the same way, he does not force people to obey him. Only those who want to follow him will come - as all the yin lines of Hexagram 8 are drawn to this one yang line.

‘People in harmony first cry out and weep, and then they laugh.
Great leaders can bring them together.’

Harmony between people doesn’t just flow into being by itself, and so the leaders of Hexagram 13 have work to do. They bring people together, creating mutual recognition (this line changes to Hexagram 30, Clarity) despite differences. Plainly there is friction and emotions are running high: the people cry out and weep before they laugh, and only great leaders are capable of bringing them together.

Imaginary readings

And finally...

This is always an intriguing way to explore readings - 'What if Yi had answered with the paired hexagram instead?' - it turns out that 'thought experiment' imaginary readings are quite a good way to explore differences between hexagrams, too...

'How to find work?'

Hexagram 13, People in Harmony. Network! And go outside your comfort zone when you do; don't just look for a carbon copy of your old job. Connect with new people and look for ways you could collaborate and your skills could be of service in new fields.

Hexagram 8, Seeking Union. Ask yourself what you are looking for in a job, what would bring you joy, and follow that. That job listing you saw that seemed to be calling your name? Apply for it now. Networking? Of course, but tracing friendship connections to meet kindred spirits might be more valuable than LinkedIn.

'What to expect in this relationship?'

Hexagram 13, People in Harmony. Friendship, support, an ally, something to stretch you. It doesn't feel particularly romantic.

Hexagram 8, Seeking Union. A kindred spirit, easy natural attraction - provided you aren't too slow to commit yourself. (Alternatively, maybe especially if Hexagram 8 were unchanging - they're not already in a relationship, are they?)

'How to treat this minor ailment?'

This isn't a wholly imaginary reading, as I've received Hexagram 13 in response to this one. It was one of those injuries you treat at home while thinking, 'If this doesn't get better, I suppose I should see a doctor'. With Hexagram 13, I brought together all the different natural (collaborative!) remedies I knew of, and everything was fine within hours. I'm not so sure what I would have done if I'd cast Hexagram 8 instead - perhaps consulted my intuition as to what treatment felt right, and used it promptly? Or the final line of the oracle might have made me nervous enough to see a doctor without the 'wait and see'.

I hope all this helps with some real readings...

I Ching Community discussion