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Interpreting hexagrams

Comments on whole hexagrams, individual lines and so on

The Lorelei

I’ve been listening to Clarissa Pinkola Estés talking about creativity and telling stories (always a good idea). She talked about that time when an artist becomes utterly obsessed by his (or her) art: the work is so perfect, so beautiful, so right, that nothing else matters. The artist forgets all… Read more »The Lorelei

More accidental Yi wisdom

This is from Havi at Fluent Self, who once again is writing about Yi without knowing it. This time she’s unwittingly explaining Hexagram 11, line 1, as a matter of fractal flowers. Hexagram 11 is about Flow, working with it or creating it or stepping into it. There is no… Read more »More accidental Yi wisdom

Already Crossing?

On the one hand, ‘Already Across’ is certainly a good, literal translation of the name of Hexagram 63. The old character for ‘already’ shows someone turned away from a food pot, implying a completed action. The historical resonances of the book as a whole imply that this is the moment… Read more »Already Crossing?

Hexagram 53 - pair of geese in flight

Hexagram 53 musings

‘Gradual advance. The woman marries. Good fortune. Constancy bears fruit.’ Hexagrams 53 and 54, Gradual Advance and the Marrying Maiden, are what Stephen Karcher calls ‘The Great Marriages’. So what does ‘marriage’ mean? To a large extent, that depends on your perspective: in old China, marriage for the man means… Read more »Hexagram 53 musings