Comments on whole hexagrams, individual lines and so on
Some Yijing imagery is immensely straightforward to relate to. I was having the ‘What do you do?’ conversation a few weeks ago, and a friend asked me what kind of thing readings said, and how they answered questions. ‘Imagine,’ I said, ‘you’re asking about taking on a new voluntary role,… Read more »Crime and punishment
Hexagram 36, Brightness Hiding, might be one of the easiest to connect with. Isn’t there a story in the Sorrells’ I Ching Made Easy of someone in an abusive relationship who received Hexagram 36 and broke down in tears of recognition and relief when she heard the story of Ji… Read more »Hexagram 36: Hidden Pheasant?
Tradition tells us that Hexagram 63, Already Crossing, has its trigrams in the right places: water is above fire, like the pan on the stove; things are cooking; everything is in good working order. And then by contrast, Hexagram 64, Not Yet Crossing, with the same two trigrams in reverse… Read more »Fire on the river: Hexagram 64
There’s a well-established tradition that these trigrams portray fast-moving fire burning through mountain vegetation.Kong Yingda (574-648AD) wrote, ‘When fire is on top of the mountain, it races through the grass and shrubbery, a condition that does not leave it in one place for long. Thus this provides the image for… Read more »Fire on the mountain: Hexagram 56
The trigram picture of Hexagram 50, the Vessel, is a dynamic one: wood in the fire, burning. The wood is becoming fire; the food in the vessel is cooking for the ritual meal. ‘The vessel.From the source, good fortune.Creating success.’ Hexagram 50, the Oracle This is an exceptionally fortunate beginning,… Read more »Fire above wood: Hexagram 50
Hexagram 23, Stripping Away, is not generally much fun. Of course, we all know there is no such thing as a negative hexagram. But it’s a rare reading when the sight of 23 fills one with joy. Stripping away means loss; usually, it means having something taken from you that… Read more »Stripping Away, no mistake
Eight hexagrams of the Yijing are formed from doubled trigrams (chong gua 重卦) – the same trigram above and below. These hexagrams give us the names of the trigrams. They also – as Bradford Hatcher explained – provide some of the best evidence that the original authors of the oldest… Read more »The eight doubled-trigram hexagrams
