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Hope you like this month's opening quotation? (Any suggestions for next month?) Last month's - 'The point of the Yi Jing is not to answer questions...' - provoked something of a response. With hindsight, I see I shouldn't have taken it out of context: Cheiron went on to say that this was actually part of the point, but surely it was basically about changing the person who asks the questions. Which sounds about right to me.

I've never found it easy to relate to the analytical, systematic approaches to building a hexagram without divining. But some fascinating insights can come from these approaches: take for example, this month's excellent guest article by Mick Frankel.

I've spent the past several months creating the I Ching email course, as promised. I'm delighted to announce that it is finally ready for you, and I'm very pleased with it. Now, I'll do my best to get the redesigned site online for you in July...

About the Friends' Area archive
I've deleted old archived messages in the Friends' Area and moved another batch - messages up to Sept/Oct 2001 - to the archive. Anything there you want to keep? Please download it! Anything you wanted to keep from the last archive? Let me know what it was, and I'll send it to you.

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™Announcing the new I Ching Correspondence Course—

One of the best parts of this fantastic job is watching the people I read for developing their own relationship with the I Ching: beginning to read for themselves and interpret the answers, discovering a lifelong, life-changing skill. So naturally, I wanted to offer you a tailor-made course that would lead you from beginner's confusion to confident divination. And at last, it's complete!

The I Ching Correspondence Course includes:
• An email course (also available as an ebook) taking you step-by-step through an interpretation
• Also in the email course: insights into divination, ideas for divination practice...
• ... and seven carefully-designed, progressive assignments
• A substantial reference ebook including
  • I Ching history as applied to divination
  • I Ching culture as applied to divination
  • The Wings (and - you guessed? - their use in divination)

All this is available for £22.50.

But the best part - the part I'm really looking forward to! - is the private, one-on-one tuition. You can get support and feedback on any assignment you choose for £20 a time - or you can buy the complete course with personal tuition including a bonus tuition session to spend on a subject of your choice for £137 .

The Correspondence Course also includes a Beginners' Guide ebook covering all the basics of what the I Ching is, how it works, and how to consult it. But you can get this for free as an email course: see the 'free course' link at the top right of the course information page.

I hope you enjoy the courses!

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™Letter to the Editor—

"Hi Hilary!
I'll like to take advantage of this opportunity that you give us to write about I-Ching and thank you for your letters and for having a web site destined to I-Ching.

It was more than 10 years ago when I decided to end a decade of adventures, and follow a more sedentary life style. By then I had almost 15 years reading and consulting the I-Ching (since '76) and my experiences were so many and so incredible that had a need to look for groups or people with whom to share my experiences. ...

It was a pleasure to read some letters of young people, it reminded me of my first experiences with the book; my doubts to interpret it and understand the answers, my search for different versions or translations, and my curiosity for his idea of the "middle way". But than after a few years, my amazement for precise and clear answers to important questions, and the experience of the realizations of his messages. ...

Nowadays, I rarely consult the I-Ching, and when I do, even if I enjoy the reading, I don't feel too good, I think I-Ching taught me not to have the need to consult him, and when I do is because maybe I'm not yet "sane". My advice to the young is that when you consult the book of changes, do it with curiosity, loyalty and respect for the book, But most important, to have faith on your own subconscious mind.

Thank you again Hilary and keep spreading the word. It is more important now than in the 60's to create peace and love in our subconscious. I believe that I-Ching is positive about our future, but only if we all detach ourselves from our egos and start loving one another. And if this sounds utopian, is because it is. Is Utopia just a fantasy? Well if it is, remember that most of man's fantasies have become real.

Truly yours
Ricardo Fernandez
Los Angeles, USA"

Thank you for writing, Ricardo! I really appreciate it. I think the I Ching is finding a natural home on the internet and in the connections it makes possible.

I've heard this idea of reaching a point where you no longer need to divine before... but I sometimes wonder whether it might not also be a time for divining with different questions, or with no question at all...

Anyone?

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™DIY Corner: Organisations as I Ching Hexagrams—

Many, many thanks to Mick Frankel for this excellent article. It's inspired by the ideas in Thomas Cleary's translation the Tao of Organisation by Cheng Yi (available in the USA and the UK), but develops them into an intriguing practical technique that anyone can experiment with.

I think it might also be useful to apply Mick's suggestions 'in reverse', as it were - if the inner dynamics of the organisation you're thinking about are a closed book to you, why not divine in the normal way and use these ideas to help in interpreting the results?

Organisations As I Ching Hexagrams

The Basics
Most people know of the I Ching as a book of divination. You ask a question and most often use either coins or yarrow stalks to end up with a pattern of six lines. Each line is either a solid line (Yang) or a divided line (Yin).

This pattern of six lines is known as a hexagram and there are 64 hexagrams in all. Each hexagram has an overall meaning associated with it. For every hexagram, each of the 6 lines has a specific meaning as well.

Some people, myself included, also read the I Ching as an inspirational book, full of wisdom and insight.

But I'd like to talk about another use of the I Ching. I have found it incredibly useful to analyse organisations and situations by breaking them down into six levels and then working out whether each level represents Yin or Yang energy.

You then end up with a hexagram that represents the organisation. This can give you tremendous insight into what's going on in the dynamics of any situation.

Source Material
[See the online version for a full account of Cheng Yi's approach]

What Each Line Represents
I've tried to apply this method to my own situation at work and to help other people gain some insight into their situations. Here's my understanding of how it works based on my practical experience of using this technique.

Firstly, break down the organisation into six levels like this:

• Bottom line: Temporary workers, agency staff, students on work experience, interns. In other words, staff who are not a permanent part of the organisation.
• Line 2: Skilled workers, productive staff, the programmers, the machine operators, the workforce proper. The engine-room of the organisation.
• Line 3: Workers representatives, Trade Union representatives. These are people who present the views of the workforce to management. They are often workers themselves with extra responsibilities.
• Line 4: Middle management. The people who report to top-level management but who don't have the real power in the organisation. They often have the difficult role of mediating between workers and management.
• Line 5: Top-level management. The people who hold the real power in the organisation.
• Top line: People who are not part of the organisation but whose opinion is still valued. Maybe the board of directors, or former managers who've retired. This line could also refer to a higher-level such as maybe regional or national bodies.

Having drawn up the six layers of the organisation following these guidelines, you then review each line to see how that level of the organisation sits within the organisation as a whole. For example, is the level represented by the line active or passive, present or absent, having an effect or not having an effect on the organisation overall?

• Active/present/having an effect means a Yang line.
• Passive/absent/not having an effect means a Yin line.

But be careful to avoid thinking Yang = good influence, Yin = bad influence. For example, Yang could mean aggressive, over-bearing and inflexible and Yin could mean adaptable, supportive, responsive and flexible.

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™Book Review—

I really am taking a back seat this month! After a friendly and knowledgeable Bookworm sent me this review of R.L. Wing's I Ching books, I placed my own order for the Workbook. It's on the way… meanwhile, here's the Bookworm's review.

In 1979 and 1982 R. L. Wing published two books, The I Ching Workbook and The Illustrated I Ching, and they have been popular ever since. These books are commentaries, not translations. Clearly Wilhelm/Baynes is Wing's focal point, but she definitely has her own ideas about what is what. Nothing shocking, just a little different spin from the usual Song interpretation.

The two books are practically identical in terms of content. Both contain the same longish essay on the nature of each hexagram, and then shorter explanations of the lines. There are a few nice touches. For example, Wing offers a special interpretive paragraph for readings with no moving lines, and she has mini-suggestions about the import of the clearly marked ruling lines. Both books have a sensible introduction, with good information everyone needs to read once. The only method of divination she explains is the Three Coin method.

Personally I like the Workbook better than the Illustrated I Ching because it presents the all the commentary on each hexagram in a unified section. The illustrated version separates the hexagram essays from the line comments, with all the essays up front and the lines in the back. Also the illustrations are nice examples of classic Chinese painting, but the fact they are all in black and white makes them a little disappointing. On the other hand, the Workbook has one of those annoying comb bindings that always seem to get bollixed up with use. I often use Wing for my divinations, and she seems to gives me good insights. My only complaint is her hexagram essays are too long and wordy for a quick reading.

in the US in the UK

in the US in the UK

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™Discussion point—

Wouldn't you like to know how other people are using and experiencing divination? These surveys are your chance to find out. All you have to do is click here and vote! (And if there's something you'd especially like to know - send in your suggestions!)

Divination experiences: results and feedback

After divination, I feel...

These are quite positive results - but still... Surely divination should always leave you with renewed confidence, feeling that you have been heard and understood and that life makes sense? But a combination of unscrupulous readers, poor translations and above all the complete cultural vacuum surrounding divination has made it very hard for many people to relate to their chosen oracle. Hopefully the new I Ching course will help to bridge the gulf.

As usual, the survey also included a box for 'other' - comments on whatever options I'd left out. This brought out some thoughtful insights:

'I also feel…
Empowered (sort of like renewed confidence, but more like "reminded I can choose")
Humbled (kind of like amazement and awe, but more like very deeply embedded in something big)
Connected to the past and the future - reassured about human ability to communicate with the divine over time'
Anon.

'Divination is a personal validation that the Universe is there to support me. Each act serves to deepen my trust in life and, therefore, to open my heart more for Love to gain entry.'
Demitra M.N. (aka Dharma)

There were also some comments on problems with divination... being confused by your own emotional involvement, feeling bruised and 'castigated' by the reply. (Maybe a problem with an unsympathetic translation?) More on this subject next month, I hope, once I've had time to think about it.

New survey

Concentrating on the good results of divination - I wondered what was most important to you, what you were really looking to gain from the I Ching? (Or from the tarot, runes, cards, etc…) I think that when I divine, I'm usually in search of better understanding and fresh options. And you? Click here to participate!

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™Links to explore—