I hope you like the introductory quotation. I've been noticing of late how often the I Ching's 'answer' is in fact more of a challenge, a 'Have you looked at this?' or 'Do you know why you asked that?' And a truly lively conversation ensues!

A confession:
I utterly misjudged how long it would take to produce both the new site and the I Ching divination course. Fine diviner I am… I hope you haven't been holding your breath? (No, I thought not.)

Anyway, the revised schedule now looks something like this:

1. Complete just one I Ching email course (despite the temptation to write two at once) and make it available from the current, 'old' site, by the end of May
2. Ensure that the new site contains at least as much for you as the old one does, and get it online by July!
3. Add more things - like a comprehensive links directory and enlarged I Ching bookstore - to the new site over time.

Meanwhile, speaking of links - there is a new 'Links to explore' section at the end of the newsletter. If you know of (or own?) a good site connected with divination, China or the I Ching - something you think readers of this newsletter would benefit from - then please let me know! If I indulge myself too much in discovering good sites for you, that schedule will be getting 'revised' again…

Substantial price reductions on Sharedlight readings
Note: since this newsletter was published, Sharedlight readings have been replaced by simple bulk discounts on individual email readings.
A Sharedlight reading is an opportunity for you to discuss a whole series of I Ching questions and answers with me by email, for a full week, for the princely sum of £45. But what if you want more than one week? Up until now, you could buy several consecutive weeks at a reasonable discount. But if you wanted a break between your weeks of readings, you had to order single weeks at the full price. Not any more! As I promised at the time of the Chinese New Year offer, I've removed the requirement to purchase consecutive weeks. Now you can buy several weeks in advance and use the readings whenever you choose.

I've also substantially reduced the prices for several readings to offer you a 'bulk discount' that's really worth having.

Finally, I'd like to wish a very happy Easter to those who celebrate it, and great joy in the renewal of Spring to everyone!

™DIY Corner: how often to consult, plus beginners' hints—

Question:
'How often can you consult the I Ching? How often should you consult?'
Wendy
Answer:
There isn't a universal answer to this question, or not one that's measured in days or weeks. But there are other ways to reckon time: our bodies announce the time to stand up and stretch, time to eat; inwardly, we know when it is time to talk or time for solitude - and also when it is time to reach out to our own intuition, or time to consult with the oracle. So the shortest answer to the question is 'When it feels right to you'.

Having said that - it is easy to get caught up in repeated consultations that really get you nowhere. The anxious questioner charges frantically from one question to the next trying to get an answer she can relate to (or one she likes the sound of!), and no real conversation takes place at all. Sooner or later the I Ching begins to comment pointedly on this approach, or - in extreme cases - ceases to talk sense altogether, but by this point she's hardly reading the answers anyway, and may not even notice what's happened. This is an especially present danger when we use a computer program or some other more-or-less instant method to consult. If you know you'll be spending the next 15 or 20 minutes sorting yarrow stalks, the whole process becomes more thoughtful, and often more useful. You're more likely to ask yourself the critical questions:

'Why am I asking this? What am I going to do with this insight?'

But there are no stone tablets anywhere with the rules for I Ching consultation carved into them. And there will be times when you need to ask a long series of questions on a single issue. A good group of questions might be:

'What about doing this?'
'What about the alternative?'
'What would be the best approach, the one most in harmony with the time?'

The only thing I would say is essential is to remain clear about your questions, and to spend time with the answers. If you misunderstand the first one, the rest of the series is unlikely to get very far. But when you've engaged with one answer and found another question arising from it… or occasionally when you've engaged with an answer and just can't relate to it… and you are still hungry for understanding - then it is time (human, inner time!) to consult again. Equally, when you feel you need time to digest the answer and really don't need any more input at the moment - you're right. Some people can sit down with the oracle and ask ten questions in quick succession; I almost always stop at one, or one for each alternative I'm considering.

If you are very familiar with the complete I Ching, you may find that you can have long, multiple-reading consultations at great speed - gaining far more insight from the telegraphic language of hexagrams and lines than you ever could from ordinary conversation. Another possibility, of course, is that you'll understand the first answer well enough that you won't need to ask more. Instead you'll be able to go out and act on your reading - which is, after all, what it's for.

Question:
Hi
I am very interested in starting to learn to read my own or do a reading for myself. I have a book and have been playing around with it for years but I am sure that I never have got it right.
Beginers advice please!
RonnettaV

A few beginners' hints
There is a Chinese tradition that not until you are over 50 can you hope truly to understand the I Ching. There is also a common-sense realisation shared by many people who've been consulting the I Ching for 20 years or more that they have barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer! So 'beginners', in practice, means most of us.

1. First, get a decent translation
…one that contains the real words of the I Ching. Even if you had a translation with nothing but those words, no interpretation to help you to connect with them, you could build up a real relationship with the I Ching over time. (It would be very hard work, though, as re-inventing the wheel so often is.) If you have only someone else's interpretation, and no access to the words of the I Ching itself, then you will of course be able to read off answers from your book at great speed; some of them may even be relevant to your question. But you will never gain a real relationship with the I Ching, and never learn to divine.

3. Keep it in perspective
Don't let divination take over from your own natural intuition and powers of decision. If you can get the answer you need from a doctor, a lawyer, from the person you're asking about - do so. And don't divine so often you forget to be aware!

4. Consider collecting a few different translations
This doesn't just give you different interpretations to choose from, it frees you to develop your own ideas. Just one small example of how different these things can be (and why you need to build up your own experience!) - what two translators say about Hexagram 44:

'Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male. It is an unfavourable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences.' (Wilhelm/Baynes version)

'A time to welcome what comes to you. Acting through the woman and the yin brings invigorating strength.' (Stephen Karcher, How to Use the I Ching)

5. Borrow other people's experience
Look out for books that include sample readings. (One of the best for this is The I Ching made Easy.) Visit Clarity's I Ching Community and browse the Friends' Area. Visit my 'hobby site' of I Ching experiences at 'I Ching resources'.

6. Get some help
At present the best way of doing this is through a Sharedlight reading. Yes, I know this is a shameless plug. But many people have told me that a week or two of in-depth discussion gives a phenomenal boost to their relationship with the I Ching; if you disagree with them, you can have your money back.

7. Watch this space!
There's a free email course in the basics of I Ching divination coming up, as well as paid courses with the option of personal tutoring.

If you have ANY questions about consulting the I Ching please write to me, and I'll answer them in future issues.

(But please note - this is for questions about consulting the I Ching yourself. If you have a question for the I Ching, you need the services page!)

™Book Review: Yi Jing, by Wu Jing Nuan—

This isn't the book I intended to review this month - but once I got hold of it (not easy in the UK!) I had to write about it: it's one of the most stimulating translations I've come across, and I use it constantly. (A note on its title: Yi Jing is just the more modern way of writing I Ching - it's still the same book.)

What the book includes
There's a long, intriguing introduction before the main part of the book, which is a complete translation of the Zhouyi (that is, the names, judgements and line statements). Browse on into the final chapters and the appendix, though, and you find that this is one of the very few I Ching books to include the complete I Ching, with all its traditional Wings. The translation throughout is fluent and straightforward.

The introduction
This begins with a deeply poetic elaboration of the traditional account of the beginnings of the I Ching, beginning with Fuxi. Wu is prepared both to embrace the myth and its meanings, and to move smoothly from myth to history when this better serves as a foundation for understanding. If you are most concerned with historical accuracy, this is not the best introduction to read first - but perhaps there are more important things… Wu's work is solidly grounded in etymological research, but this is not allowed to dry up the Well of symbolic riches. This book is meant for use in divination.

Re-reading the introduction for this review is taking longer than I'd expected: I keep on noticing new things and getting absorbed… It covers the basic structure of the Yi in terms accessible to a beginner, but is also crammed full of imaginative thought on that structure's meaning. The lines of a hexagram as marking rising water levels? The drilled circles in oracle bones as 'dragon holes', and the spaces between the hexagram lines as 'cracks in space, gaps in time' where extraordinary energy can be seen and used? These are ideas to live with (and these examples are all from just a couple of pages). Wu goes deeply into divination as a spiritual practice. He gives clear instructions on divination with coins and yarrow, shows the flow of energy through a hexagram, and also writes with knowledge and insight on the etymology of key Yi Jing characters.

The experience of divining with this translation
Wu says he has aimed to present 'the simplicity of a Daoist translation with a ground of shamanistic practice, and the concomitant complex levels of meanings.' Certainly his simplicity and especially brevity are striking. If you're used to long, moral expositions on the lines, for example, his approach will come as something of a 'culture shock.' But I find these brief, information-packed comments are much more authentic in divination. There is that much less to be dismantled before you find your own answer. True, this approach leaves more of the imaginative work to you, but then divination is not about reading the answers from a book. Wu gives you stimulating information and ideas to work with, and involves you closely in discovering your own meaning.

Wu reads the Yi as I might read poetry, reflecting on how themes are developed and drawing conclusions from each hexagram's internal patterns: this is an approach I very much enjoy. I also like the honesty of the translation, showing the hand-written Chinese character along with the English version. Combine this with Wu's elucidation of the characters themselves, and you can actually see the images unfold.

Wu's version goes beyond the neo-Confucian interpretations of Wilhelm, Legge or Huang, on the basis of historical and intuitive understanding, but without angry polemics against them. Spiritual and magical understanding take over from moral injunctions. Sometimes I find I prefer the traditional interpretation of a line, usually for its greater complexity; even then, though, Wu is invaluable for what he adds to my understanding of the symbolism and atmosphere of the hexagram as a whole.

Who is this translation for?
If you are buying your first I Ching, this one could work well for you: it does contain all you need, although you might find that it is easier to start with a version with rather more explanatory text. It certainly makes an excellent addition to a collection (it is always near the top of my own pile of translations!), largely because of the vivid contrasts between the hexagrams. They don't all steadfastly convey the same moral message. Some are about savage punishments, others about artistic and spiritual heights or extraordinary shamanistic power. The Yijing as seen by Wu is a dramatic adventure more than a book of wisdom.

Take Hexagram 49, line 4, and compare…
Alfred Huang:

'Regret vanishes. Be sincere and truthful; Change the old. Good fortune.'

Wu Jing Nuan:

'Regrets vanish. Have confidence. Change heaven's mandates. Good fortune.'

Availability
Wu's Yi Jing is available from Amazon.com, though at the time of writing, it will take 5 or 6 weeks to arrive. (Believe me, it's worth the wait!) [Post-publication note: currently not available new at Amazon, but still worth checking for used copies.]
For those of us outside the US - well, Amazon.com's international shipping rates are surprisingly reasonable. Or you might like to try the advanced search at Abebooks.com, or use your national search engine for a local search.

™Discussion point—

Last month's survey: what if it doesn't work?
The results so far:

A surprisingly high proportion thought that this wasn't an issue at all, with 8 out of 20 respondents so far saying that the answer is always clear in the end. Answers that become clearer over time seem to be a common experience, to judge from the response about problems in divination practice. Unfortunately the answers are rather blurred from all the people who first said this was a non-question, and then proceeded to answer it anyway! Clearly there's an art to designing surveys…

Haven't answered this one yet? No problem - just click here.

New survey: who are you?
Nothing deep or metaphysical here: just a very simple survey I should have done months ago. I've run many surveys to find out what you think about the I Ching. Now I'd like to find out some more about you: why you're interested in the oracle, what your experience is with it, and how you'd improve this newsletter.

Yes, I do know you have other things to do with your valuable time than fill in surveys. But please do this one! It'll only take a minute, and it will make a big difference to me! Go on - click here, fill it in. I promise it won't hurt ;-)

Review all the surveys so far

™Links to explore—