Frozen:
an I Ching dream interpretation

The I Ching can be enormously helpful in interpreting dreams. You simply ask it for insight into the dream, and look carefully at how the words and images it offers you relate to those of your dream. This is a wonderful way to understand the dynamics behind your dream, and how it fits into the broader currents of your psyche.

Here is an example (described with the kind permission of the dreamer). This is not a full account of the I Ching's answer - that would run to 1000's of words - but it does show how the I Ching can help.

J dreamt that she was fetching a box of frozen yoghourts from the bottom of her chest freezer, and handing one to a large man she had caught trying to burgle her house. The man was now quite docile and under her control - until he asked 'So did someone give these to you?' and she said 'No'. In the frozen silence that followed, she realised that she had let him know that she had stolen them, and now he had the upper hand. She tried to convince him that she had bought them, but he wouldn't believe her. She had an overwhelming feeling of physical cold - she knew that if he touched her, he would feel how cold she was and know that she was terrified.

She asked the I Ching for insight into her dream, and it replied with Hexagram 17, Following changing to Hexagram 39, Limping On. 'Following' indicates smooth, easy movement, following the natural flow of the moment - the very opposite of the sensations of the dream. It seemed more of an ideal to aspire to - where she should be, but wasn't. Hexagram 39 felt much more like where she was at present - struggling with new projects that had failed to take off, and finding progress very difficult.

The three moving lines showed her where she was. Line 1 speaks of rejecting a former role and 'going forth from the gate' to communicate with others, and reassured her that this - in other words, her new schemes - would lead to achievement.

Line 3: 'Bound up with the worthy manager; letting go of the small son'. This referred to the change in her role and her self-image as a result of these new projects: she felt she was taking on adult responsibilities. 'Following, seeking, acquiring'. This was very promising, but still didn't account for the emotions of the dream.

It was line 4 that explained them. 'Following and catching. Misfortune to persist.' The character for 'catching' was quite different from 'seeking', which suggests reaching out to what you desire. 'Catching' meant seizing and capturing. It pointed to an attitude contrary to the ideal of Following - a desire to grasp at results, rather than letting things happen. This was what was represented by stealing the food, capturing the man, and by the recurrent images of cold and stasis. 'Connect to the spirits, abide in tao, understanding brightened. How could this be wrong?' The solution was to dwell in the moment - to have aspirations, but not clutch anxiously at them. Now it was brought to her attention, she could see other areas in her life where this was a problem.

So now J knew what the dream was about, and where it fitted in with her current preoccupations. The yin Pattern of Change, Hexagram 59, Dispersing, offered her a beautiful image of the way to make progress: its ideogram depicts ice being broken and melting away, so that water can flow freely again. With obstacles dispersed, the king in his temple - and she in her life - could once more relate freely to what was sacred for her, and could 'cross the great river' easily, as if she were floating in a boat.

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This reading had a great impact on J. She was relieved to know exactly where the problem was, and her confidence was restored. She was also impressed by the warning of the dream and the I Ching against 'catching' and freezing the flow of energy - and from her change in attitude came a radical change for the better in her fortunes, 'Following' on quite naturally.

I Ching dream analysis articles