Divination for awareness

You could say that the first objective of divination is to be more aware – have more insight, connect intuitively with the way, be more completely present. That would be true for any reading, even if it’s not the first goal that comes to mind. It’s especially, true, though, of readings done as a regular practice, whether or not you ‘have a question’. I do tend to come back to this theme from time to time 😉 , I know – but then, there’s something remarkable about divining simply as an awareness practice, and without any objective of your own in mind. You’re letting yourself be tuned in to other dimensions of experience, or enrolling for a course of intensive study with your life as the syllabus. True, this enrollment will inevitably mean learning at the feet of Prof. Hindsight from time to time. But for the most part it keeps you from falling asleep in your daily routine. I find that if I fall out of the habit of weekly readings, life tends to go on auto-pilot; eventually, I wake up and realise I’m not going anywhere. When I’m in closer contact with Yi, experience is deeper, richer and more intense. Of course, divination isn’t essential to any of this. There are probably at least as many ways of staying awake as there are people on the planet; talking with an oracle is just one of those resilient old ways. And – also ‘of course’ – enhanced awareness is only one of many reasons to adopt a regular reading practice. For instance…

• you build your experience of individual hexagrams and lines; with a few examples, you get a sense of the inner quality of a line or hexagram – its ‘time’. This is not something you can get from books.
• you develop a sense of relationship with Yi and with your own intuition, so you can recognise moments of insight rather than second-guessing them. (Another thing that’s more easily learned than taught.)
• and you get help in staying – more or less – on your path. Not that readings alone can do this: the oracle speaks quite softly, for the most part, and is easily drowned out by highly-charged emotions, or choices already made. But it is a constant corrective and reality check.

I’m not – of course – suggesting that weekly readings as awareness practice is a one-size-fits-all solution, the ‘Right Way’ to divine. Only that it can be useful, and in particular, that it’s worth getting past the fear of ‘consulting too much’ to try it. Yes, it’s possible to sabotage your conversation with Yi by asking too much (and/or listening too little), but no, you can’t ‘offend’ the oracle or wear it out. And yes, there are enlightened people who don’t need to seek guidance, but it absolutely does not follow that you ‘shouldn’t need this by now.’ I suppose what I’m actually, respectfully, suggesting, is that the advice that ‘You shouldn’t consult the I Ching unless it’s for something really important, when you’re absolutely sure you need it,’ is about as useful as saying that, ‘You shouldn’t look at that map until you’re absolutely sure you’re lost’…