Speculations on relations between hexagrams: the Sequence, patterns of trigrams, nuclear hexagrams, etc
People often ask about the significance of the specific periods of time mentioned in the Yijing. Does this literally mean seven days, or ten years? Very occasionally, it can – but normally, these periods have symbolic value. It’s interesting to see that ‘seven days’ get three mentions in the Yijing:… Read more »Seven days
Measuring Hexagram 60 is called Measuring, or Limits – not in the sense of imposing restrictions, but of knowing where the edges are, and discovering or negotiating what’s workable. The original concept is the knots and segments of bamboo, and hence all ways of dividing up something big into smaller… Read more »Hexagram 60 as relating hexagram
I’m repeating myself here, but never mind – it bears repeating. The Yi is wonderfully made, with mind-boggling depth. One of the ways this manifests is in the relationships between changing lines and their zhi gua, the hexagram that follows from the change. For example, 49.3 changes to Hexagram 17,… Read more »Revolution without entanglement
A Change Circle member asked for examples and impressions of Hexagram 56, Travelling, as relating hexagram. After I’d trawled through my journal for examples for her, I thought I’d like to keep digging, so here’s the result… I’d expect the relating hexagram to describe subjective more than objective reality, and… Read more »Travelling as relating hexagram
‘Above the mountain, there is water. Limping.Noble one turns himself around to renew his character.’ Hexagram 39, the Image When the Image authors talked of ‘turning oneself around’ in Hexagram 39, they were picking up on a theme in the older layers of text. To start with, the Oracle says… Read more »Limping disentangled
The Xugua – its scope and limits As you may know, I’m a huge enthusiast for the Sequence of Hexagrams: its hidden patterns, the ways it creates meaning, its big reflections and arcs and the way it adds depth to readings. The Xugua, the 9th Wing… is not really about… Read more »Telling the story
Introducing the Zagua The Yi became the Yijing, a Classic book, as it grew its Ten Wings: ten bodies of commentary and reflections on the oracle and its hexagrams. The Zagua, ‘Mixed hexagrams’, is the tenth and last of these: a short, simple, rhyming description of the hexagrams in pairs.… Read more »A patchwork of hexagrams
