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Reviews

of divination websites and books

The Chameleon Book

When did you last encounter a Yijing translation where the introduction engendered such curiosity that you were itching to read it through? Quite. I’m sure this isn’t supposed to happen, but with the Chameleon Book, Freeman Crouch’s translation, I find it does. He reads the Yijing as a historical document,… Read more »The Chameleon Book

Stephen Karcher: Shuogua

The Shuogua, ‘explanation of the gua’, is the Yijing’s 8th Wing. It’s in three parts: the first is an origin story of how the sages made the Yi from first principles; the remaining two describe the characteristics of the individual trigrams. You’ll occasionally find references to these characteristics in Wilhelm’s… Read more »Stephen Karcher: Shuogua

Thoughts on Wilhelm/Baynes

Someone wrote to ask what I think of the Wilhelm/Baynes translation. I have mixed feelings about it. For a lot of people, I know, asking ‘what do you think of Wilhelm/Baynes?’ is much the same as asking, ‘What do you think of the Bible?’ This is the edition the great… Read more »Thoughts on Wilhelm/Baynes

I Ching ebook and audio

I reviewed Ron Masa’s I Ching introduction at length here (part 1) and here (part 2). It’s a warm, genuine, clear and straightforward introduction; if you don’t need it yourself, you might consider buying it for a friend. At the time of the review, this was only available as an… Read more »I Ching ebook and audio

Recommended I Ching audio

Back before my computer tried to turn into a doorstop, I wrote: “I’ve just recently learned of another provider of really good beginner-level I Ching information online. I’ll be writing a review of his current offering soon and posting it here.” So let me end the suspense: I’m talking about… Read more »Recommended I Ching audio

I Ching Poetry

Lately, I’ve been exploring ways to immerse myself in readings more completely – and I Ching poetry seems to be a way to do that. Of course the book is poetry itself, but the attempts I know of to translate it directly into rhyme basically reduce it to jingles. I… Read more »I Ching Poetry