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 reading. Yet even so, she found that her readings became clearer as she asked from a deeper, clearer place.
Naturally I was immensely pleased to hear this, as that’s pretty much what the event was for. (At least for me – other participants showed up for other things, like an easier connection to their creativity, or help getting past indecision, for instance.) I’ve been thinking – of course – about what small changes at the beginning of a reading will make a great difference in the whole process.
One thing that’s making a huge difference for me is always being immensely clear about my intention for a reading before I start. This is something I’ve been talking about for years, but it often seems too ‘obvious’ to merit much attention.
For instance, if I’m wondering which of two people to contact with a joint venture proposal, then ‘obviously’ I just want to know which would be better to work with so I can get on and contact him/her…
hmm… wait…
That ‘better to work with’ idea could do with some unwrapping, couldn’t it?
A few layers in, and I find myself with a vivid inner sense of what I’m hoping for, and where I’m hoping these readings will guide me: connection with a kindred spirit, being stretched into unknown territory, bringing something extraordinary into being. Then I have both intellectual and emotional clarity of intention, and the deeper motives behind the question – that ideal for the year, being of greater and more complete service through partnership – light up for me.
And then I ask, and the readings are positively luminous in their clarity. In particular, those points where my assumptions about ‘how it ought to happen’ are actually at odds with my intention really stand out. Of course, this kind of reading often comes anyway – shining, deeply connected, casting mistakes into sharp relief. But there seems to be something especially vivid about this. Maybe it’s just that I’m more attuned from the start?
Anyway… that’s one way that a few seconds of increased attention can make a powerful difference to the intensity and clarity of a reading. What works well for you?
Probably too trivial, but I ask coloured marbles in a bag. I mean, each time I pick a marble my fingers are feeling for the marble that *is* the question in my mind. So each time I pick, the question is clear in my head and my fingers are searching for *this line* of the answer.
Before then, I was just groping around in the bag for the marble that “felt right”. I’m not sure whether there has been any difference in the hexagrams. But the question repetition and focus certainly prepares my mind better for an appropriate answer. It is less “on the surface” — I need less effort to remember it so am freer to consider non-obvious connections.
I do like the marbles/ beads method for just this kind of reason – the simplicity of it seems to make focus on the question that much easier.
Do you mean you’re actually asking for each line individually, by its character – something like ‘what’s the line 5 aspect of this answer?’ Interesting idea.
Not quite, because I don’t know enough to relate to the Yao text on an intuitive level. But as I do it I am aware that the hexagram is built as a progression so yes, there is a sense of “what is next for …”