Comments on whole hexagrams, individual lines and so on
Rosada asks at the I Ching Community about the difference between the Judgement of 24 – that talks about going out and returning, moving freely – and the Image, that says the ancient kings closed the frontiers so people couldn’t travel. Good things have been said in response. Rosalie wrote:… Read more »I Ching Community: What’s the deal with 24?
Hexagram 40 is Release: untying knots, removing artificial restraints and compulsions, and restoring complete, natural freedom of movement. Its moving lines talk about different kinds of captivity and release: simple ‘mistake’ at the first line, the release of a firm grip at the fourth, release from a looming, ominous presence… Read more »Release from the foxes
Not for the first time, someone’s written to ask me what it means that there’s ‘advantage in the southwest’ for her. So here’s a summary of one thing it means, at least – ‘The southwest’ in Yijing-language doesn’t usually mean literally the southwest. There can be the occasional exception, of… Read more »Advantage in the Southwest
It’s a pervasive character, this I Ching – its way of thinking gets everywhere. Nowadays I find that given a book and a pencil, I’ll be jotting hexagrams in the margins to remind myself of the main ideas. Here’s one that brings out the pencil – the Fourth Insight from… Read more »The Fourth Insight and Hexagram 6
The Judgement of Hexagram 15 says that, ‘Integrity creates success, The noble one completes things.’ What’s the significance of ‘completing things’ (literally, ‘having completion’), as against just ‘succeeding’? Wilhelm translates this as ‘carries things through’ and describes it as completing one’s work; he mentions how much simpler and more effective… Read more »The noble one completes it?
This is the line Wilhelm translates as, “If one is not extremely careful, Somebody may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.” So reading it this way, the line would mean that you should ‘overstep the mark’ in taking care – that you should be extraordinarily defensive, constantly on… Read more »Hexagram 62, line 3
Here’s a nice coincidence. Elvira emails me and asks, “What is the meaning of Hexagram 38 in daily life?” And over at GreatVessel there is a new article on Hexagram 38 (Opposition/ Diverging) entitled The Shaman of the Shadows – remarkable work that needs reading and re-reading slowly, and with… Read more »Hexagram 38 in daily life
