I Ching Diary / Notes to Myself

[rosada]

Because the image for 29. is water and more water and reads "the superior man WALKS in lasting virtue.." I associate the advice with a vision of Christ walking on water and thus being able to calm the churning sea. This led me to think of the man in 28. walking across the bridge that isn't anchored at either end - his faith allows him to "stand alone unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted. " Thus we have a man who walks on water and another one who walks on air.
Hexagram 1.is obviously Skywalker. Would 30. represent a Fire Walk?
-rosada

 

[jilt]

and then, would 51 represent walking on electricity or be a spirit-walk?

 

[Trojina]

Because the image for 29. is water and more water and reads "the superior man WALKS in lasting virtue.." I associate the advice with a vision of Christ walking on water and thus being able to calm the churning sea. This led me to think of the man in 28. walking across the bridge that isn't anchored at either end - his faith allows him to "stand alone unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted. " Thus we have a man who walks on water and another one who walks on air.
Hexagram 1.is obviously Skywalker. Would 30. represent a Fire Walk?
-rosada

conjuring water ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZVpZqistk

 

[rosada]

Wow, we used to do that at summer camp. Very cool.

 

[rosada]

Most likely everybody else knew this, but I just got it that 19. Approach's line about "in the eighth month misfortune" refers to the fact that after the spring and summer and fall harvest comes the cold winter. I used to always think this line was somehow saying that no matter how hard you try something is going to ruin your efforts in the end. Now I'm seeing that it is just saying that inevitably winter will come so prepare for it.

This has me now thinking about hexagram 1.6 and the arrogant dragon flying too high and then 2.1 being about the coming of winter. I now read this as saying all attempts to outwit the natural order of things will ultimately collapse and winter will comeback.

 

[fkegan]

Most likely everybody else knew this, but I just got it that 19. Approach's line about "in the eighth month misfortune" refers to the fact that after the spring and summer and fall harvest comes the cold winter. I used to always think this line was somehow saying that no matter how hard you try something is going to ruin your efforts in the end. Now I'm seeing that it is just saying that inevitably winter will come so prepare for it.

This has me now thinking about hexagram 1.6 and the arrogant dragon flying too high and then 2.1 being about the coming of winter. I now read this as saying all attempts to outwit the natural order of things will ultimately collapse and winter will comeback.

Hi Rosada,

There is a sense of balance being advocated in the Yi commentary, bad times like hex 47 have a slogan of "success" indicating they are temporary and contain opportunity as well. Hex 19 represents a symbolism like a pendulum near the top of its arc that is moving along at quite a clip but will remain constrained to its arc and will come to standstill and fall backward in due course. Hex 1 is all about the power of sunshine and hex 1.6 contains the reminder that although the sun is amazing in its power, it also is constrained to its rhythm and sunset is inevitable.

The natural order of things is to keep to established orbits or rhythms which does not necessarily require collapse, just an awareness that things don't just go your desired way without limit. Winter has its upside as well whether in terms of the opportunity to make intricate timepieces while snowed in like the Swiss or enjoy Super Bowl parties in massive excess here in Vegas.

The next step is to notice it is all part of an ongoing, regular, and benevolent process. Rather than glorious summer collapsing into winter or the daylight extinguished by night it is all part of a continuous momentum with appropriate things to be done and enjoyed all the time.

Frank

 

[rodaki]

backtracking on 1.7 i had an idea last night looking at the snow falling . . now this was not the heavy falling snow, but very very small snowflakes, they almost looked like dust and once they touched ground they were carried away by the wind like they were sand . .
and while they were falling they didn't have a steady direction (since the wind kept changing) they would go rapidly downwards for a while and then turn, one way or another, swirl upwards and even seemed to stop momentarily, or waver, waiting for the next gust . .

anyway, looking at these white spirits moving all around made me think of 1.7: a flock of dragons with no head, a flock of energy with no will of its own, open to external direction . .

 

[fkegan]

backtracking on 1.7 i had an idea last night looking at the snow falling . . ..
anyway, looking at these white spirits moving all around made me think of 1.7: a flock of dragons with no head, a flock of energy with no will of its own, open to external direction . .

Hi Rodaki,

I have also been thinking of hex 1.7, without snowfall here though the El Nino excess warming of the Pacific brought storms out here too...turns out Global Warming doesn't repeal winter, just puts more energy and water vapor into winter storms...

Applied to snowfall this El Nino excess energy might well be a hex 1.7 manifestation as vast energy without any INDIVIDUAL intellect rather only following along upon the jet stream storm track.

My thoughts arose not from precipitation but poor Chis L trying to avoid his demons of the 'random or magical' picking the first two hexagrams for his Oracle. Divination works, especially if you are foolish enough to think your ego can outfox the Oracle.

Hex 1.7 represents extreme energy invested into a process set loose that you neither understand nor control. In the context of the Yi, of course, this would be the clear process of the Tao and therefore the slogan of Good Fortune.

For an individual it indicates a process like the Tarot card of the Tower where both the King and Commoner are falling and no longer have their high distinctions, they are both just demonstrating the equality of falling bodies under the force of gravity. When we invoke the Yi Oracle we are all just humans seeking and getting our just response.

Frank

 

[rodaki]

dear Frank

thank you for addressing my thoughts here . .
I have been following your debate with Chris but I'd like to keep my distance from it . . I hope it will turn out creatively . . In my eyes both yours and Chris' insights have been of great help in understanding better how the I Ching works and although I don't always understand or agree with everything I still find amazing knowledge and depth in the works of both of you . .


:bows:

 

[fkegan]

dear Frank

thank you for addressing my thoughts here . .
I have been following your debate with Chris but I'd like to keep my distance from it . . I hope it will turn out creatively . . In my eyes both yours and Chris' insights have been of great help in understanding better how the I Ching works and although I don't always understand or agree with everything I still find amazing knowledge and depth in the works of both of you . .

:bows:

Hi Dora,

There are many allusions and associations one can make to hex 1.7. Since I take the ancient Chinese ideogram for this hexagram Ch'ien to be about sun beams evaporating swamp mist to form clouds to rain upon the croplands, most of my remarks on hex 1 are about the water cycle. This thread began with comments about the Creative (sunshine and its power to animate all life and energy upon Planet Earth) taken in the more personal metaphor of The Creator as an expression of Christian visions of the Godhead.

You added your observations about snowfall where you are as an example of hex 1.7 with the notion of the flock of dragons without heads as energy without will open to external direction.

In the traditional commentary, the dragon is a mythical expression of the power of Heaven and a flock of dragons without heads is taken as an expression of gentleness or perhaps modesty though not of a lack of will rather expressing the Tao of will of nature. Like Voluntas or Divine Will in Ibn Gabirol's Fons Vitae which also is associated with the Creative process using the metaphor of the sun's energy like a fountain or spring.

There was no reference to any debate. Simply the recent other comments upon hex 1.7 as the simplest of Yi Oracles, hex 1 and 2 which in prior decades I have experienced from folks thinking they were evading taking the Yi seriously. In this instance I found that it was as much of an Yi Oracle as any other, and I have been musing about this. It is not a common Oracle to cast normally, so opportunities to consider it are rare.

Here we have several arising Now. Seems an augury of interesting times... this weekend is the beginning of a snow challenged Olympics (Vancouver is having lots of rain instead), Valentine's Day and the New Year of the Tiger...

Frank