The muddle If you’re new to the I Ching, you could be forgiven for wondering why there are apparently two hexagrams called ‘Obstruction’: Hexagram 12 (according to such translators as Cleary and Richter) and Hexagram 39 (according to Balkin, amongst others). Neither hexagram is one you’d generally rejoice to see… Read more »Obstructions
Hexagram 49, Radical Change Fire in the lake: awareness shining through all kinds of human interaction and exchange. I’ve imagined before that this could be the shaman’s eyes shining through his mask; it’s certainly the light of astronomical awareness shining through the calendar. ‘In the centre of the lake there… Read more »Light inside: Hexagrams 49, 55 and 63
36, Brightness Hiding With Hexagrams 13 and 22, and maybe even 30, I could build up a picture of how li inside projected its light through the outer trigram, bringing awareness and enlightenment to it. When I get to Hexagram 36, with light inside earth, this becomes altogether trickier. It’s called, at… Read more »Light inside: Hexagrams 36 and 37
One intriguing way to learn more about hexagrams is to study them in groups: contrasts and opposites, groups that are joined in sequence, nuclear families, and so on. Recently, I’ve been looking at the groups of hexagram that share a trigram in the same position, like for instance mountain on… Read more »Light inside: Hexagrams 13, 22 and 30
It probably shouldn’t surprise me to discover that 57, Subtly Penetrating, as relating hexagram is very hard to pin down. That seems to be just the nature of the hexagram. But the most general way of looking at a relating hexagram still works here: imagine how the primary hexagram is… Read more »57, Subtly Penetrating, as relating hexagram
Make hay while the sun shines Hexagram 35 is one of the sunniest in the Yijing: ‘Advancing, Prince Kang used a gift of horses to breed a multitude.In the course of a day, he mated them three times.’ Look, it says, you are recognised, you have wonderful gifts, and now… Read more »35 as relating hexagram
At the very end of Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, in its final line, ‘results bring a change of heart’: ‘Enthusiasm in the dark.Results bring a change of heart,No mistake.’ And then at the very beginning of Hexagram 17, Following, its first line begins with an official’s change of heart: ‘An official… Read more »Changes of heart
