Some 15 years ago, I wrote on this blog about the non-people of Hexagram 12. ‘Blocking it, non-people.Noble one’s constancy bears no fruit.Great goes, small comes.’ Hexagram 12, the Oracle Back then, I emphasised how the idea of ‘non-people’ (fei ren, 匪人) could mean labelling people and sticking them in boxes, which eliminates any possibility… Continue Reading
Ni, 泥 , simply means ‘mud’ – soil, putty, to daub with plaster. It’s the clay that was baked into bricks and tiles. I normally look for how a word is used in the Book of Songs, or the Book of Rites, but ni doesn’t appear anywhere in either of them. I suppose it’s not… Continue Reading
You know how the lines of some hexagrams unfold and tell a story? Hexagram 53 traces the journey of the wild geese; 1 follows the dragon’s journey across the skies; 48 describes well-repair. Well… I’m wondering whether something similar might not be happening in Hexagram 51. The name of the hexagram, Shock, means both a… Continue Reading
I learned this morning that Bradford Hatcher has died. The Yijing world has lost a treasure, and many of us have lost a good friend. Brad was ridiculously generous with his knowledge. His epic, two-volume Yijing is available from his site, for free. (He’s made arrangements to ensure it’ll stay that way.) It’s a superb… Continue Reading
It’s one thing to consult the Yijing; finding the confidence to act on what it says is something else. (What if I’ve got this wrong?) Yet readings without this, without change, are theoretical at best, and at worst… maybe something more serious than a mere waste of time. We need to recognise the reading’s authority… Continue Reading
(The story so far: I asked what to write about, and Yi’s response – 37.1.2.5.6 to 46 – gave me the idea of writing about what makes for a friendly, domestic, quotidien, integrated relationship with the Oracle. I’ve written about lines 1 and 2; here’s line 5.) What makes for an integrated relationship with Yi?… Continue Reading
The second line of Hexagram 37 (and the second thing Yi suggested I write about) says, ‘No direction to pursue,Stay in the centre and cook.Constancy, good fortune.’ Hexagram 37, line 2 This line places us, and our readings, firmly at the foundations of Maslow’s pyramid: There’s no call to charge off and explore the world;… Continue Reading
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