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?
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
A comic aside to start with. About 95% of the way through writing this post, looking up a link I wanted to include to an old one, I happened on this one from 2007. I’d entirely forgotten its existence. Ah, well. Nourished on ancient blog posts, perhaps? Here’s a more… Read more »Ancient de, revisited
The Yi has quite a bit to say about food and drink generally, and wine in particular. While food has always seemed to me to be a fairly simple image for how you participate in your world – what you internalise, how you meet your essential needs – wine is… Read more »Drinking with Yi
One of the strangest things about conversations with Yi is how immediately relatable most of its imagery is. Life is a journey; we walk our paths (Hexagram 24). We can be stressed and over-burdened to breaking point (Hexagram 28) – it’s actually next-to impossible for us to talk or think… Read more »Making offerings?
Robbers show up a few times in the Yijing. In 4.6 you’re advised to ward off robbers, not act like one; in 5.3 and 40.3 you’re in danger of inviting them; in 53.3, once again, it’s useful to ward them off. There are also three lines (3.2, 22.4, 38.6) where… Read more »Robbers?
