Hello - I'm new to the site but have been enjoying it for some time!

I have found the topic of the Ideal Form and the Shadow. I understand how to see which hexagram is the shadow, but how to find the ideal form? I couldn't divine this even from greatvessel. Would really like to be able to see this.

Rohamc

I don't understand these features either, but the "ideal hexagram" is 63.

http://www.hall-of-man.com/i_ching.asp

So I'd speculate that the ideal of a hexagram are those changes that would convert it to 63.

I thought Ideal Form was a Greek, especially Platonic, concept, not Chinese.

I'm referring to a method talked about here:

http://www.greatvessel.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=595&tabindex=5&DocumentID=2393


And I've seen it discussed on this site. Interesting link, thank you!! ~R

It looks like you just substitute the original trigrams, understood as being from the Hou Tian (Later Heaven) arrangement, for their equivalent in the Xian Tian (Early or Primal Heaven arrangement). These are the two wheels of eight diagrams. Look at them both to determine the substitutions.
Of course, if you don't see any meaning in these arrangements, and I see none whatsoever in the Hou Tian, then the whole thing is just divining from random juxtapositions, no different than reading tea leaves or entrails. This still works for some people, but it shouldn't be thought of as a legitimate Yijing method.