The Yi talks in images: hexagram shapes, trigram pictures, sometimes the original forms of the Chinese words themselves, and – most clearly – in its vignettes and stories. When you’re just getting started with readings, those are the images you can’t miss. You might ask…‘How to start a conversation to… Read more »Into the image
I’ve been looking lately at something so simple I almost missed it: how the ideas in the Yijing’s texts develop, from one phrase to the next. It’s easy to look at something like, ‘Dispersing, creating success.With the king’s presence, there is a temple.Fruitful to cross the great river,Constancy bears fruit.’… Read more »One step at a time
The first thing you’re going to notice about this episode is the change of music. The new recording is Kimiko Ishizaka’s performance of the 9th of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, from her wonderful Open Goldberg Variations project. I hope you enjoy it! Three readings of mine get a mention in this… Read more »Shock, bogs, and not knowing
So far, I’ve introduced the idea of ever-flowing constancy, and explored six places where the Yi advises it. There is just one more example: Don’t! 62.4 ‘No mistake.Not going past, meeting it.Going on is dangerous, must be on guard.Do not use ever-flowing constancy.’ This is clear enough: do not use… Read more »Why not use ever-flowing constancy?
In this episode, Maggie and I dive into her reading about a possible new job: Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, changing at lines 3 and 5 to 31, Influence. changing to It’s not only about being ‘open to the new’, I think – also about being prepared and actively engaged with the… Read more »Open to the new?
Some more examples of ‘ever-flowing constancy’… Renewal: 22.3 ‘Beautiful, as if dipped in water.Ever-flowing constancy, good fortune.’ The imagery of this line resonates well with the wateriness of ‘ever-flowing constancy’, too. 22.3 changes to Hexagram 27, so this is where image and beautiful presentation look for Nourishment – and find… Read more »More ever-flowing constancy
(This is, aptly enough, going to be a series of posts – though not an endless one…) Introducing ‘ever-flowing constancy’ Zhen, ‘constancy’, is the fifth word of the whole Yijing: 乾元亨利貞qian, yuan heng li zhen ‘Creative force, from-the-source creating-success, harvest in constancy.’ Or for those translators, like Stephen Field, who… Read more »Ever-flowing constancy
