The Yijing’s changing line texts are in conversation with the hexagrams created by each change. But they can also have quiet exchanges with their fan yao, the ‘reverse line’ that travels in the opposite direction. For instance, 11.2 changes to 36, and in reverse, 36.2 changes to 11: 11.2 and… Read more »Lines in conversation
Thunderbolt and earthquake The name of Hexagram 51, zhen 震, means Shock, Quake, and encompasses both thunder and earthquake. (Nowadays there is a specific word for earthquake made of the components ‘earth’ and ‘zhen’.) The old character has two components: rain, and chen, the name of the fifth Earthly Branch in… Read more »Hexagram 51, Shock
What is Jie 介 ? The character jie 介 occurs three times in the Yi: 16.2 ‘Boundaries of stone,Not for a whole day.Constancy, good fortune.’ 35.2 ‘Now advancing, now apprehensive.Constancy, good fortune.Accepting this armour blessing from your ancestral mother.’ 58.4 ‘Negotiating opening, not yet at rest.Containing the affliction brings rejoicing.’ As… Read more »Borders and boundaries
Something I’d like to do this year: learn more about how to work with dreams and Yi, together, as a single fabric of meaning. (Something that’ll be made much more practical by this journal software.) So I’m casting readings like this one and this one in an attempt to create a… Read more »What to do with dreams?
I asked Yi, ‘Why do we dream?’ I had a few reasons for asking: huge curiosity about the answer, of course, and wondering what Yi might say out of all the possible answers I could think of. (‘Processing’ stuff from the day? Receiving messages? Random noise? Ongoing inner work?) Also… Read more »Dreams: rain dance of the soul?
That need Yi answers is for… ‘The Well. Moving the city, not moving the well. Without loss, without gain, They come and go, the well wells. Almost drawn the water, but the rope does not quite reach the water, Or breaking one’s clay jug, Pitfall.’ in the background as underlying… Read more »Basic human need Yi answers, part 6: line 4
(This post is part of an absurdly long series: The basic human need that Yi answers The basic human need Yi answers, part 2: the Well The basic human need Yi answers, part 3: the change The basic human need Yi answers, part 4: changing line 1 ) Moving on… Read more »The basic human need Yi answers, part 5: changing line 2
