 Clarity's I Ching Newsletter: Issue 47 "Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." F.P. Jones |
™Letter from the Editor— Dear Subscriber, To start off with, I have some news on the ongoing story of imagesofone.com and their I Ching software. In case you missed the beginning: this was originally released with a whole chapter of Bradford Hatcher's free I Ching book included in the software, without his permission or so much as an acknowledgement. At the time of the last issue, he was still waiting for a response to his request that the software be withdrawn. It turns out that David Cameron, the owner of Imagesofone, was away, and hadn't known that this was Bradford's work. As soon as he learned this, he set about doing as Bradford asked: removing his material, adding clear acknowledgements of his sources, and adding a link to Bradford's website on every page for good measure. He's also taken this opportunity to fix the technical problem and mistake I mentioned before.
So the situation is resolved, and I for one admire the efforts David C has made to put things right. Maybe we should have a session of I Ching software reviews in a future issue?
Are you in the UK?
The BBC's Heaven and Earth programme (Sunday mornings) is looking for someone to appear on the show to describe a particularly stunning I Ching experience - either a reading you did for yourself, or one someone did for you. Well, actually they say they're looking for someone who was 'astonished at how accurate the prediction turned out to be' - but hopefully you would get the opportunity to show that the I Ching does more than that! They'd send a film crew to your part of the country. If you are interested, please email me, and I'll put you in touch.
And finally - if you're one of the people who wrote in to help me with the technical side of international phone readings, thank you! There was a far bigger response than I expected, with links to some excellent resources. Hopefully, I'll be set up very soon with the means to make international calls at reasonable rates and to record the call for you. I'll keep you informed!
Warm wishes,
Hilary The last issue's subscriber's reading was for Jane, who very kindly wrote to share her response:
"Dear Hilary,
Thank you for the insightful reading published in the Clarity newsletter.
The reading is carefully worked through, from beginning to conclusion. I gained so much insight, I know I will come to you again for a reading.
It was interesting, the line about the prince giving command, in relation to working with the energies of 44. In depth also, that you showed the roots of each hexagram in the previous. I will be reading this again and again, to deepen my understanding of what you are saying.
Since sending you the request, I have experienced a surprising 'about face' in regards to my inner relationship with both persons. I think it is because I did (and continue to do) what you advise about the 4th line. Reading what you wrote affirmed my actions! One never really knows what it means to 'line the well', but I stumbled along and did my best, and you encapsulated it succinctly.
The last sentence from your reading says,
"If you expect limitless inner resources no matter what anyone takes from you... there is 'good fortune from the source'."
- this is where I am at in regards to both people.
I feel relief and peace of mind. This is considerable, as one of the conflicts was very long standing, drawn out, for years. Never thought it would get better.
I wonder if by working through the issues with the most recent (the first question in the sequence), if it on some level addressed the long standing deeper conflict in the long standing separation (the second conflict in the sequence, how do I deal with the fact...).
And that the I Ching reflected that by giving the same hexagram for both people.
Whatever, I am so happy to be clear of all the hurt and angry or desolate feelings.
Thank you so much.
Jane"
"Dear Hilary,
When a Hexagram gives me a line that says in three years there is no one to be seen, does that really mean 3 years!!!Or when it says 10 years? How does the timing truly measure?
Thank you,
Tracy"
Dear Tracy,
No, these things aren't always, necessarily, to be taken literally. The I Ching deals more in subjective than objective time: that is, it has more to do with how long it will feel to you. So one good clue to the line's meaning is your reaction when you read it. Three years often means just 'a very long time'; the number ten has the added meaning of 'a complete cycle'.
You can get a better understanding of the meaning by looking at the whole context for the line. If it takes three years to subdue the Demon Country, for instance, you can be sure that you are dealing with unpleasant issues that take much time and energy to resolve. In the case you mention, three years with no-one to be seen, someone has isolated her- or himself and gone into a dark retreat. Perhaps she is punishing herself (47,1), perhaps shutting herself away in mourning (55,6). If the picture this presents is something you don't want, then the next question to ask (of yourself or of the oracle) has to be: "How can I change the outcome?"
very best wishes,
Hilary
™Hexagram of the month: 45, Gathering ˜ When I receive this hexagram, I think of a great investment, often a shared one, in a higher purpose. The original text speaks of a great sacrifice:
'Gathering, creating success.
The king enters his temple.
Harvest in seeing great people.
Creating success, harvest in constancy.
Making use of great sacrificial animals, good fortune.
Harvest in having a direction to go.'
This Judgement is loaded with the I Ching's most powerful concepts: 'creating success', 'harvest', 'good fortune', 'seeing great people'. No other hexagram is quite so insistent, either on great vision, or on getting results.
When the king entered the ancestral temple, he made the connection with his ancestors on behalf of the whole people. He is the essential core, he completes the circuit, so that spiritual power can flow into daily life. This is the leader who taps into the group's essential source of energy and reason for being, above and beyond ordinary concerns.
So the king provides the focal point for the gathering of people, wealth, energy and emotion. Such a concentration of force cannot be an end in itself: it has to be oriented towards a greater goal. In the following, 'paired' hexagram, Pushing Upward, the intense energy and optimism translates into a determined drive for growth and progress. Hence the need for great people, those who can see beyond the surface of things and ensure that the shared purpose is well-founded. The people are called on here to sacrifice the biggest and best of their livestock - something they might be reluctant to do if they did not have a 'direction to go' that pointed beyond immediate utility.
Such heavy investment also means high risks. Gathering Together is a response to the preceding hexagram, Coupling. That brings a fundamental challenge to 'the way things are done', through untameable forces of chance, fate or passion. Somehow the communal vision must expand to encompass this encounter, 'gathering it together' in the service of a greater purpose than the mere survival of the status quo.
'Lake higher than the earth. Gathering together.
Noble one sets aside weapons and tools,
And warns against the unexpected.'
A lake higher than the earth is probably a reservoir for irrigation: an essential investment in life and growth, but also an ever-present risk of flooding. Its behaviour isn't predictable, so the best advice is to be prepared. 'Setting aside' weapons is sometimes interpreted as readying them, sometimes as putting them away: I think it indicates being prepared to deal with possible disasters, but without brandishing your precautions where they might do damage themselves.
As you'd expect, this hexagram very often describes a group enterprise: how essential it is to have a well-defined shared vision and goal to gather around; the investment and sacrifice required of the group's members. If you receive it with reference just to yourself, try thinking of your life as a similar 'gathering' of talents, motivations, roles and resources. It can mean 'collecting yourself' or 'getting yourself together': somehow you have to unite all your varied experience from moment to moment through a single, central purpose.
Whether the 'gathering' is of many individuals or one, it is always a high-intensity way of living. Wu Jing Nuan noted the unusual emotional intensity in the moving line texts: 'a hug, smiles, distress, sighs and tears'. Perhaps this is because of the constant struggle to align present emotions and actions with the higher purpose. But every one of the line texts also speaks of being 'without fault' - I believe this is the only hexagram where this is so. Naturally, the meaning evolves from line to line, but I think the overriding message is that at each stage, the greater purpose puts the extremes of your experience into proportion, making them 'without fault'. The 'direction to go' has to be right - then, its manifestations from moment to moment may be painful, but you are not locked into them.
I Ching links around the web:
The last issue of 'Education about Asia' included an article on 'The Yijing (Classic of Changes) in Global Perspective: Some Pedagogical Reflections'. This page links to an extensive bibliography, a range of translations of #24, and several versions of the hexagram names - and also to a page where yo can subscribe or order back issues.
You can download a free trial of the much-discussed Imagesofone I Ching software from here (fully functional for three readings), or just read the essay on "The principles behind the workings of the I Ching".
More on those principles from another site: I Ching as information field, Sheldrake-style
Just a sampling from the I Ching Community:
Note: if you have experiences, theories or questions to share about a particular hexagram, Soshin has started threads about every single pair in the 'divination discussion' area: it's all ready for you!
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