Folks, thanks as always for your attention.

I asked the I Ching about my job situation. I'm really not enjoying it right now and I'm contemplating making some big changes.

I got 38 with 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 changing, which resulted in 8.

I'm really perplexed. I want to leave and I think it's time (their path and mine have really diverged) but the 8 - "holding together" is vexxing.

Any ideas?

See if you can't make sense of the transitional hexagrams, reading lines 38.1, 64.2, 35.4, 23.5, 20.6 to 08 as a story, instead of all 5 in 38.
It is time to leave, to go to where you belong (Hex 08). To delay is to miss out.

Thanks Bradford. I'll take a look at Karcher when I get home. I always find his interpretations useful.

Thanks!

If you must
Just a note - 35.4 might simply mean being candid or open in your next job interview.
If you happen to read Tarot, the same story can be told as: Seven of Wands, Nine of Wands, Three of Wands, Ace of Pentacles, Ace of Swords, Three of Cups. Things might come into focus and clear up nicely.

I noticed on Amazon that Karcher has several books. Which is the best?

Hi Melcox,

I'm seeing something a bit different from Brad. To me it looks like you're estranged in some way with your present company or boss. Possibly a misunderstanding. Your lines seem to encourage you to work it out, but not compromise your essential values. Hold together with those values, but also hold together with those who could further your future - inside and out.

Melcox & Bruce-
Now we've more reason to watch this unfold.
It's not by agreement that we learn best.

Peace-
Someone else should pick a Karcher book.
I only used the big book he did with Ritsema, and that mainly for the fine glossary and concordance. The others were too obtuse for me.

"It's not by agreement that we learn best"

I disagree!

No, really, thanks for the reminder. I'm dealing with a group of born agains. Need I say more?

Folks,

Thanks for your insights. I checked out the Tarot interpretations, and:

7, 9 of Wands are basically about being at war and being very defensive and generally ready to rumble.

3 of Wands encourages setting out on a new adventure, doing something new...

The Aces of Pentacles and Swords are basically endorsing any big push change or endeavour.

And the Three of Cups is defintely good news ;-)

So... are these the lines building to the top? As in, the present is the defensive warring bit and I'm gradually moving through a big change to the good stuff?

How did you derive the Tarot from the lines?

Hi

"So... are these the lines building to the top?"

Yes. Transitional hexagrams just change the lines one at a time, from the bottom. Same Zhi Gua.

How did you derive the Tarot from the lines?

It's my own system. It's not historical, but it uses Crowley's Court Card associations and most of his assignment of Ba Gua to Suits and Sefirot. Spot cards are treated as two part symbols, number and suit being analogous to lower and upper trigrams. I use flame and thunder for fire or wands, water and lake for water or cups, earth and mountain for earth or pentacles and heaven or wind for air or swords. Lower trigram determines number. The system had to use all the Yi glyphs (64 + 8+ 4 + 2) to make 78. My book explains it in more detail and has key charts at the end.

That's really cool Bradford. Your book sounds fascinating. Where can I find it?

So - about the interpretation - is this hex basically saying "pick yourself up, dig in and make a big change and you'll be rewarded?"

Hi Peace

Stephen Karcher Books... Here are my two favourites:

Total I Ching: It tries to help the reader into an imaginal space. That is the same image space we use in dreaming. So he gives background information, where available, pertaining to the myths attached to the Hexagram and talks about it in his commentary as a set of images. For me this moves the reader away from text analysis which can lead one to think that the author embedded a singular urgent message in each bit of text... A precise authorial intention which might be uncovered by careful analysis of words. There are no singular 'words' as the Chinese characters are ideograms.

This image based approach enables me to work with feelings and images in a creative way.The translation part is very good too.

My other favourite is ?I Ching? 2003 - Pub. Vega... I think it has been remaindered you will get wonderful bargains on Amazon and other online Book Shops. This is a very different work which was carried out at the Eranos foundation with Rudolf Ritsema. On top of an excellent translation it gives associated meanings for each of the Chinese characters in the text. That is each character has a number of different meanings and so under their translation they give a list of alternative words which might broaden the meaning. This enables one to think of the translated lines as 'clusters' of meaning or possible meanings. Remeber the Chinese characters, at that time, were largely images and not singular words as are ours in English.

So this time one is able to go deeper into the text. However I find holding the images generated by these clusters of meaning enables me to see those lines as an image which is perhaps more what the original Chinese users/ authors might have done.

(Reducing Chinese characters to single English words is like reducing a Sunset to the word 'Sunset'.)

The other place to go to get the alternative meanings of the words in translation is http://www.hermetica.info ? The Matrix translation. A bit tougher to work with but I find it very good indeed.

All said and done ? Grab a 2003 Vega copy while there are still some around ? They are going for just a few dollars? and I believe it isn?t going to be re-printed? Vega is no more.

--Kevin

You might want to save a search on Ebay for I Ching books - you can get emails sent when new items go on sale. (Tip: specify 'coins' and 'feng shui' as negative keywords!)

There are, confusingly, three versions of that Eranos translation around now. The original with Ritsema's and Karcher's names on the front. The Vega one with just Stephen's name on, more 'English' sounding text (with some edits) and some added commentaries of his. And Ritsema's recent re-issue, this time working with Sabbadini. (Almost identical to the 'R&K version' - review here.)

Actually I think TIC is on ebay.co.uk at the moment... ah yes, here it is.

lol

Are you a 'Web Witch' Hilary?!

Correction to my post above.

The Vega edition was published in 2002 (not 2003)

The Ritsema Sabbadini version seemed to be a bit of a strip down, and they used thick paper which makes it very thick ? I fear the binding will not hold long.

--Kevin

Hi Melcox-
My book's free, but you have to download it in several pdf parts from www.hermetica.info
The translation/commntary part is about to get revised.