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™Letter to the Editor—

Many thanks to Elaine Kolp for this intriguing perspective on the nuclear hexagram.

"Dear Hilary,
First of all I want to thank you for all of your excellent I Ching newsletters. I was very interested in the discussion in this last one, about the Nuclear Hexagram.

I was reading it as a counter-indication, because that's the way it seems to be in the R&K Big Book - something you don't want to do. After reading your newsletter and the discussion on the online page, I started to really think about it in more depth, and to go back to readings I've had to see what the nuclear hexagram was for them.

What I noticed about them in relation to my readings is that they seem to indicate the way the situation would have developed if I hadn't asked the question. They are my prevailing tendencies or patterns that would continue to be manifest if I didn't make a change. The I Ching being, of course, an oracle of change. That is why they are a counter-indication. If you are troubling yourself to ask the question, then on some level at least you want to make a change.

They are also seed and shadow, as you point out - they are where the desire for change came from, and they are also the "road not taken" of any change that is made. This is what nuclear hexagrams are for me, though obviously for other people they will mean different things.

Thank you again for an excellent newsletter and a stimulating discussion.

Sincerely,
Elaine Kolp"

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™DIY Corner: Responding to negative answers—

An anonymous respondent to a survey on experiences of divination wrote:

I remember, years ago, asking for the oracle's comment on a marvellous idea of mine for guiding and helping another person. Here it is:

So when we receive an answer that is not in the least what we want, one that makes us feel small, what are we to do? The natural human response is to say 'you can't mean it!', and re-interpret or re-cast until we reach something we feel comfortable with. Needless to say, this is not a wondrous idea.

What's the alternative? Just to change our plans, be resigned and 'do as we're told'? Perhaps, sometimes.

In August 1993, a woman asked about going to a conference in LA the following January. The I Ching answered:

This woman stayed home without having any idea why she was doing so. But this is the exception: almost always, the I Ching shows not only 'good fortune or misfortune' but also the energies and reasons behind it. Often, these will resonate with what you already almost-knew. When I was considering keeping quiet about something recently, and received Hexagram 12, line 3, 'Enwrapping shame', I knew at once that I had to speak out.

What if your negative answer comes when you had asked for a prediction, such as 'What are the prospects for this relationship?' If the answer is grim, do you just let it go? ...

(In the light of this month's wise quotation, you can read the remainder of this article online.)

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™Books Review—

As promised last month, here is Watersun's book recommendation:

"Being a committed Taoist and student of the Yi Jing for over 20 years, I have amassed a generous collection of texts on the Classic. I've found each to offer something no other one does, and only a few to be of little or no value. There is one text, entitled, 'I Ching: The Book Of Changes And The Unchanging Truth' by Hua-Ching Ni, that explains the energetic side of the Oracle the way no other work does. The 12 Earthly Branches and 10 Heavenly Stems are explicitly described, and careful study of this work will enable the dedicated to calibrate the energy of the day (or any other chosen cycle) with remarkable proficiency.

Master Ni's book is not for the faint of heart or the casual. It requires a level of immersion most people don't have in this age of hurry-up-got-to-have-it-now. His interpretation will provide the dedicated with a fantastic understanding of the Oracle which is close to its Taoist roots: a system of innerstanding subtle energies prevalent in any given situation and a blueprint for living a more fully Divine life."

Thanks, Watersun! Certainly, this is not a book to be grasped instantly, or indeed in the few hectically busy weeks since I received it. I'm still working through the 200+ pages of introduction, but I've already put the insightful comments on the hexagrams and lines to use. (Though I'm not so sure about the lists of what each hexagram means in a series of circumstances from childbirth to searching for thieves!) I've also enjoyed the stories from Hua Ching Ni's own learning experiences, which follow every hexagram and give faithful pictures of a traditional Taoist education. I think this book offers a rare opportunity to connect with that tradition - and I'm quite sure that I've barely scratched the surface of it so far.

If you'd like to join in the exploration, you can get hold of Hua Ching Ni's book in the USA, the UK or Canada

On a completely different level - I did buy RL Wing's 'I Ching Workbook'. (See the Bookworm's review in Issue 17.) It is simple, straightforward, always comprehensible, and very good. It also includes an excellently-designed, simple method for recording your readings and connecting them with the hexagrams, building up your own picture of how the oracle works in practice. While the better I Ching computer programs available allow for much more sophisticated cross-referencing, you have to admit that no paper book ever refused to open because of a corrupt file… Partly for the interpretations, but mostly for the ingenious 'Workbook' arrangement, I wish I'd had this book when I was just starting out with the I Ching.

It's also available in the US, the UK and Canada.

Something special:
Bradford Hatcher's Book of Changes. This is a pure labour of love, available only as Word documents from the author - for free. It includes…

• a faithful word-for-character translation
• a simpler translation that indicates Bradford's own take on the text
• notes on the hexagrams
• an enormously insightful chapter on the trigrams
• a part-scholarly, part-imaginative history of the Yi
• a fascinating (if slightly overwhelming) volume on structural dimensions
• great insights on changing lines
• original interpretations including insights into humour in the text
• and more

If you are as eager to get hold of this as you ought to be, write to me for Bradford's email address. He's currently working on a new, even bigger and better version, and a website. Watch this space!

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™Links to explore—