 Clarity's I Ching Newsletter: Issue 72 "The lines move. A static treatment of the Changes would be something of a joke." Carrin Dunne |
™Letter from the Editor— Here's the audio part for you:
(If you have problems with this player in your browser, then click here to listen in your usual media player)
The link for that subscriber's special on the course, one more time: it's just over here!
Following on from Graham's letter in the last issue:
"Hilary:
This statement is only 25 percent correct:
'Someone called Ouran has pointed out that the African divination system Ifa has 16x16=256 figures, the I Ching can be extended similarly by "mirroring" it. Then a 1-1 corrrspondence can be achieved.'
Tony Smith has pointed out on his physics webpage that the 64 gua of the I Ching cover only 1/4 of Ifa. At best, the Yi Jing is a portion of the divination system that Tony describes as originating from the Early Global Culture that originated in the Ethiopian Highlands.
Even if one adds the Tai Xuan Jing, that is still just a small portion of Ifa. Still, Chinese civilization originated from the 8 gua. Imagine the civilization we could have if we could re-build the entire Ifa divination system, and the culture that went along with it?
Best,
Jack
(Xu Wei li)
Guangzhou, China"
(Unfortunately the site Jack refers to (which was at innerx.net) seems to have bitten the dust - if anyone can find traces, I'll post a link in future issues so that people who are interested can pursue this further.)
™DIY Corner: Book suggestions— "I still have enormous trouble interpreting the I Ching. Do you recommend any particular, easy to interpret yet intelligent guide to the Hexagrams, that still retains the integrity of the original intention?
Thank you for answering my question.
R"
Hello R,
If you browse through the book reviews in the I Ching translations section of Clarity's bookstore, then hopefully you should get an idea of which books would suit you.
It's important to get a balance between books that 'tell you what it means' in clear and unambiguous style - Jack Balkin's 'Laws of Change' is the classic for this - and books that encourage you to absorb the images into yourself and discover what they mean for you. Anything by Stephen Karcher, but especially his most recent work, the 'Total I Ching', would fit into the latter category. I'd suggest, if you can, getting yourself two books from opposite ends of this spectrum.
™Book review (part 2): Jane Schorre and Carrin Dunne, Yijing Wondering and Wandering ˜ In the last issue, I reviewed the first part of Yijing Wondering and Wandering by Jane Schorre and Carrin Dunne. You may remember that it's two books in one - Jane's Wondering, Carrin's Wandering, and so far I've only reviewed the first of those.
Though both Carrin Dunne and Jane Schorre know the Yijing as an oracle to speak with and as a source of wisdom, they take two distinct routes towards the essence of Yi. Jane enters through the gate marked 'imagery', Carrin through the one marked 'pattern'. (Though the seed for Carrin's book actually came from Jane's structural ideas, and Carrin's approach to structure is a remarkably imaginative one...) The first part is spacious and reflective, the second part is intense, crammed full of original ideas. Jane offers more general thoughts on the nature of each pair, without looking at the text in detail; Carrin dives in deeply into individual moving lines and their relationships.
She points out patterns I'd never even noticed, despite years of looking. The key, I think, is the way she singles out pairs that are just polar opposites (1,2,27,28,29,30,61,62) which she calls 'dragon gates' and distinguishes these from pairs that are both polar and mirror (11,12,17,18,53,54,63,64) which she calls 'river crossings'. Then she points out how all the dragon gates have hexagram 1 or 2 as their ultimate nuclear hexagram, and all river crossings have 63 and 64 as theirs.
Her book begins with a long, fascinating introduction to the basic principles she's working with, and ends with an appendix of diagrams showing the patterns. In-between comes an in-depth study of all the dragon gates and river crossings and the hexagrams they connect with, line by line. Jane Schorre encourages you to think of hexagrams in their Pairs; Carrin does the same for pairs and foursomes of lines. For instance, she understands the dragon's movements in the lines of hexagram 1 to have their field of action in the lines of hexagram 2. And the line texts do become clearer in the light of the contrasts she draws. Read long enough and carefully enough (this is not skimmable stuff!), and successive flashes of insight start to reveal a landscape of ideas.
If I have anything to complain about, it would be what looks like a tendency on Carrin's part to think in terms of 'right' and 'wrong' ways for hexagrams or Pairs to be - so that hexagram 41, for instance, becomes the 'wrong' way to arrange lake and mountain as compared with hexagram 31. However, she is very refreshingly free from the traditional moralising habits that so many inherit from Wilhelm/Baynes: for her, the flowering and marriage of 28, line 5 isn't pointless, and nor is hexagram 44 a moral collapse.
A nice example of her subtle discrimination, balanced between Pairs: she sees how the light is blotted out in Hexagram 55 and says, 'Stopping here, we might suspect that too many possessions darken the heart. But that would be the bias of the wanderer.' And then comes to the disasters in the lines of 56: 'We might attribute these disasters to irresponsibility and rootlessness, but that would be the bias of the householder.'
For all her philosopher's clarity, Carrin Dunne is also obviously fluent in world mythological motifs, in symbolic identities and mystical journeys. Her travels through the line texts are deep psychological journeys (with Jung's influence tangible) - not applying a fixed formula to them, but recognising how the steps of the dance through the lines changes with the nature of the hexagram and pair. There is nothing dry about her work. She makes imaginative use of late and early heaven trigram arrangements, brings in Eliot, the Psalms, the Vedas... this is really rich territory I shall be mining very happy for years to come. Her book is clear, but never in the least danger of becoming dry!
Who is this book useful for? I think it would be widen and deepen the experience for anyone interested in the Yijing as more than just an 'answer dispensing machine'. It's not designed to be consulted with, of course: the complete text isn't available here. (Jane only works with the names of the hexagrams, and Carrin doesn't quote the texts she works with in full - a surprise and a disappointment in someone who obviously does delight in the whole oracle.) But it is most definitely for people who consult: both halves of the book, each in its own way, are a great source of new dimensions - especially for the 'bigger' readings.
Yijing Wondering and Wandering is available from Amazon.com and (more slowly) from Amazon.ca.
Offsite:
On site:
As I might have mentioned already... ;)
Don't forget the subscriber's special on the I Ching Course expires on 6th February!
Meanwhile at the I Ching Community...
And finally: Chris Lofting is back with very new ideas on what a few relatively traditional diviners have adopted as 'patterns of change'. It all started with 'Roots of I Ching meanings: line position archetypes' and (for courageous readers) continues here.
I provide personal I Ching readings from £25.
All readings are
completely private and unconditionally guaranteed.
™Newsletter
information—
(Personal subscription details omitted from this online version.) To subscribe: Sharing this newsletter Contact details:
I have new news and old news for you this month.
New news first - I'm not sure if I've mentioned this to you before, but I've been thinking for a while that it would be good to run a webinar with Stephen Karcher, the author of Total I Ching. The other week I had the chance to go and listen to him talk in Oxford about divination - and he was terrific, he is really good at putting his ideas across and getting people involved. We agreed that we'll definitely go ahead with this. A webinar is a live online seminar, like having everyone together in a virtual room, and you do actually get to hear people's voices and talk with them, it's not just text chat.
We've settled on a theme of 'making the oracle a part of your life', and if you're in the least interested in that, then you won't want to miss this.
We haven't fixed a date for the webinar yet: it has to fit in round Stephen's travels, and also some preparations at my end. Watch this space, as they say - or listen to it, whatever. Once we have a date, I'll be asking you for questions to put to Stephen during the webinar.
And the old news - hopefully you got an email from me a few days ago about the I Ching Course. If you're definitely not in the least bit interested in buying it, then you might want to press the 'stop' button about now and get on with the rest of the newsletter. There's the second half of a book review to read, just down there, and a little DIY corner, and some links.
Still here? OK, about the course. As you will know, I've upgraded it by adding an extra lesson, and put the price up too - but you can still get it at the old price if you order by the 6th. And for good measure, you can also opt to pay this price in installments.
If you've already ordered it, or just emailed me to say hello and 'no thanks', thank you ever so much.
If you're still thinking about it, please think quite fast, as the offer ends next Sunday.
And if you're not sure, please decide to try it! Yes, I know, I would say that, wouldn't I? But it does actually make some kind of sense. You can buy the course now and do it later - any time you like. And you can buy it now and change your mind later, and get your money back - any time you like. The only thing you can't do is buy it later at this price, because I really am going to remember to take the page down on the 6th!
OK, that's seriously more than enough sales pitch from me. So Happy Chinese New Year to you, for the 9th, and I hope you enjoy the newsletter!
|