Dear I- Ching readers,
Can somebody help me please.
This weekend I thought I have found the man of my life and now I asked the I - Ching. But I really don't understand much of it.
I asked if Ashraf El... will become my husband and then I got this:
54# Kuei Mei with changing lines in the third place and at the top. The relating Hexagram was 7# Shih/ The army with no changing lines.
To see if there was something true I tossed another one asking if Ashraf will be the real man for me.
And I got a Primary Hexagram 11# T'ai/Peace with changing lines on the third and the fourth counting from above. And the relating Hexagram was
54# Kuei Mei with the same changing lines as there were when it was in the first reading as a Primary Hexagram.
I think this is not a coincidence, but really I don't understand much of it, so I hope if somebody can help me with this please?
Thank you already for your answer.
My best wishes to you.
Love Elaine

Welcome Helenadetroya,

I think your manner of counting is the reverse of the customary - the lines 1-6 are counted from the bottom to the top, as there is the idea that the hexagram is "built up" line by line. Also, there would not be any changing lines in the resulting hexagrams. Changing lines are only in the primary hexagram; what they change to generates the resulting hexagram, and it stops there.

#54 is called The Marrying Maiden - yes, looks auspicious! - but when you get down to it, all the commentary is about how the source of strength of the relationship is not in the legal structure, but in the bond of affection between the parties. Given the institutions of the time, the maiden being discussed is a secondary wife, the one who can't depend on the legal structures to assure/preserve/sustain the relationship. Her relationship with her partner is only as good as the mutual vitality of their personal inclinations. Wilhelm says, "Affection as the essential principle of relatedness is of the greatest importance in all relationships in the world."

So, how I would read this is that, when you ask if you will marry this person, the answer is something like, "If you do, don't forget that it's not the certificate that will make a difference, it's your affection - your showing up every day to choose relatedness with each other."

One of the themes of the resulting hexagram #7, The Army (or Legion/Leader), is exploring the best approaches for bringing potential (the populace...water in the earth...disposition toward love maybe too) to healthy unified action.

Then, when you ask the other way around, if he is the one for you, I think the emphasis again is on your quality of attention, and reminding you to stay present. It isn't a forced staying-present, it's a peaceful, natural-feeling one. But it's oh so important, because it's the key to keeping your heart open, instead of becoming reactive with the ups and downs any relationship will have.

LiSe says of #11: "If you ask the gods for blessings, you will receive them, because you open your mind to see them. Some people find things in places where many others went before and found nothing. Happiness is the result of a state of mind, and going to Mount Tai is to find that."

On the changing lines, 3&4, she says:
9 at 3: Without level places no slopes. Without going no returning. In hard conditions determination: no fault. Do not worry over a truth. (Even) an eclipse brings blessing.
Never worry about anything you cannot change, and do not try to change what is not your business. Accepting good and bad both is the best way of coping with fate. It is the foundation of love, all kinds of love, for life, for yourself, for others.

6 at 4: Fluttering, fluttering, not rich in one?s neighbor. Not on guard because of truth.
Faith in the gods makes life easy and light, even when one has no reason for living easy. It might bring about disaster. But it also brings about that one can live without limits, without adapting to rules, completely according to one's own heart's desires.


Finally, let me go back to the changing lines in #54 for the first question. The lines that change to create #7 are 1&4 (counting up). What I see in those lines is something to consider relating to the suddenness of this love-possibility (or so it seems from your post!) There is a flavor in #54 of making do, making the best of a generally or potentially bad situation - the marrying maiden isn't holding the best of hands; there's a lot she's not able to control. In your case, maybe that can be seen as making the best of an *unexpected* situation. (This may well *not* play out in your life as a marriage for reasons, and that may be for good reasons that make sense to you.) I think the changing lines give you a way to allow yourself to be swept off your feet and also to keep your wits about you (to mix metaphors a bit!). Again from LiSe:

Initial 9 : The marrying maiden as secondary wife. Lame yet able to walk. To set things right: auspicious.
Not every member has to accomplish serious things. There must also be one who simply brings in life and joy. It seems small but it is much more important than you can imagine. This one needs freedom to speak without having to meet requirements.

What I think here is, even if you and this man only spend one wonderful too brief period of time sharing your affections before something about the larger contexts of your lives draws you apart again...well, that, in itself is something too... It is actually The Thing. Having a sense of the touchstone for deep connection and intimacy (as opposed to formal order and structure) is what #54 is about, and will serve you all the days of your life.

9 at 4: The marrying maiden exceeds the allotted time. A late marriage at the right time.
Don?t do things when you ?want? or ?ought? to do them, but when those things or the time say it is the right moment. Because you will have success when it is THE right moment and not YOUR right moment.

When you're in love, it seems there's something nutty about that statement there - because love seems to be all about your own wants, desires, your own right moment. But *relationship*, ah, that's the both of you. What may be right for you may not be right for him. What may be right for him may not be right for you. But if you can both bring detachment to your passion (and passion to your detachment), then you'll start to see THE right moment. And as you both change, as the world changes, you'll be able to stay with the moment, stay with the affection, the essential principal of relatedness.

Dear Willow,
Thank you very much for these explanations.
When I have understood the I - Ching correctly,
I need to stop to control for as I cannot control the situation!!!
This can be very true because a reader told me that too!
Also I have thought to be happy that I experienced this at least one weekend of my life and then see what will happen.
So I think also according to the I- Ching I should let things happen?
Thank you again very much.
My best wishes to you,
Elaine

Well my questions are of a simple nature....
When I do a session, is it true that I should only expect 2 hexagrams? I did a divination and got changing lines in my second hexagram as well, I didnt know what to do as this had never happened before. I usually only get 2. Well, I just continued my yarrow stalk process until a week later I had 10 hexagrams, with the final one showing no changing lines. As I read through this site it appears I'm only supposed to get two. Did I do something wrong? I asked about getting rehired at my old job. Even though I probably should have gotten 2, it really feels as if I was supposed to get all those that I did! This is where my second question comes; how do I identify the cycles of the four phases of the Universal Time Cycle? All those hexagrams seemed to follow perfectly the Time Cycle from Spring all the way to Trial perfectly. My book lists the four phases being: Spring, Growing, Harvesting, and Trial. It also lists the Moments that fuel them. I feel I have an alright relationship with "The BOOK" that will only get better, its just identifying the Time that gets me...

It's a simple question, but a confusing one! When you consult the I Ching, whether with yarrow or coins, you receive just one hexagram. This will probably have some changing lines. So you change these to their opposites, creating the second hexagram in your reading. And that's it: there are no more lines to change.

So yes, by traditional standards, you did something 'wrong'. But if you feel that you were meant to receive all those hexagrams, then it's safe to say that you were also meant to make the 'mistake' that produced them!

As to identifying the Time - reading Stephen Karcher, you'll already know that this is not particularly about the kind of time you read off calendars and clocks. The four terms he has as 'spring growing harvesting trial' are also the four key divinatory terms that describe how any process goes from a true inspiration through to authentic and constant realisation in practice. Now, what time are you looking to identify? If it's where/when you are, I'd look to the first changing lines in your reading sequence to describe its inner nature.

Maybe if you explain a little more what you're looking for here, I'll be able to help more.

Sorry for the delay in finding your post!

Thanks for your reply Hilary. I'll grab up my session notes and give more detail tomorrow. I hope you'll get the post before this weeks end.

I'm very happy to find a place where people can actually make some sense of this Snakes ('77) ramblings.

Hello again,
I will be going over a session I did December 4th, 2002. It was one of my last since I require a more comfortable place to divine. As mentioned earlier it appeared that I surely made a mistake regarding traditional Hexagram casting. I did my process twice before I decided to continue until I got no changing lines. This is what I got; oh, I must also mention that I use the Yarrow Stalk method, so with the time it takes for me to complete a hexagram it took me a few days to finish with the question.

Question: What can I expect if I try to get hired at M. Warehouse?

In sequence, I got hexagrams 24-Returning, 8-Grouping, 58-open, 23-stripping, 22-adorning, 60-articulating, 61-conforming, 16-providing for, 36-brightness hiding, and 47-confining.

I guess it would help to list changing lines:
#24=6/2(six at second),6/3,6/4,6/5
#8=6/3,9/5,6/6
#58=9/2,9/5
#23=6/3
#22=9/6
#60=9/2
#61=9/5, 9/6
#16=6/2,6/3,9/3
#36=9/1,6/4
#47=no changing lines.
Any comments would be appreciated, my big question is; how do these flow in sequence? When reading from the Steven Karcher book all those hexagrams seem to flow from Spring to Trial in an almost sequential flow. Where I am now is the question.
Thanks to you all.