I’m not quite sure how long ago I cast this reading. A search at archive.org reveals that I’d already uploaded it to IChingResources by April 2001. So some time before then, I had at least noticed that there were, as I put it, ‘books to be written about this answer’.… Read more »The basic human need that Yi answers
A couple of days ago, I recommended the Divine Purpose Unveiled course, and all kinds of debate ensued. Some of that was about the very idea of having a ‘divine purpose’ at all, and whether it’s remotely helpful. Is it good to believe that we have a specific personal contribution… Read more »Yi on life purpose
A round-up of readings from the run-up to the election, with thanks to Google. The earliest pertinent reading I found was from 24th May: “What will an Obama presidency bring to the nation?” Now, there’s some ambiguity around this reading: for one thing, by July the original poster was saying… Read more »I Ching on Obama
There seem to be two distinct streams of ideas flowing in Hexagram 49, Radical Change. First, it’s arguably the apex, along with Hexagram 50, of the great historical narrative of the Zhou conquest. ‘Radical Change puts away the old; the Vessel grasps renewal.’ The old regime is overthrown here; the… Read more »The nature of Radical Change
Brad Hatcher points out that 14 out of 64 hexagrams’ first lines mention feet. I wonder whether there isn’t a fifteenth implied at 49.1: ‘For binding use yellow cowhide’ What might you bind with yellow cowhide? It could be a tethered animal, of course, as Rutt suggests. But looking at… Read more »To change, first tie on your boots
The more I look into the King Wen sequence, the more depths I discover. Take the two hexagrams that describe grand, historic events of legendary proportions: 49, Radical Change, and 55, Abundance. Hexagram 49 describes the time of revolution, when the Zhou people overthrew the Shang. And hexagram 55 has… Read more »Layers of story
The I Ching is the Book of Change. So when there is a change I very much want to make, but somehow haven’t managed yet, why not call on the oracle’s help? The most obvious way to do this is to ask directly ‘How to…?’ – and I’ve discovered many… Read more »Book of Change
