(Continuing a series on hexagram 57, because it makes sense to approach this hexagram of all hexagrams incrementally!) What does Subtly Penetrating mean in readings? Well… like any hexagram, it means what it says and what it is, and no amount of commentary changes that. But I have noticed a… Read more »Hexagram 57 in readings
‘No one can tell me, Nobody knows, Where the wind comes from, Where the wind goes.’ AA Milne, ‘Wind on the Hill’ Xun has to be the most elusive hexagram. It’s awkward to translate (you need one word that means penetrating, interpenetrating, subtly, imperceptibly, gently, submitting…) and really tricky to… Read more »The elusive hexagram 57
Why look for the stories behind the hexagrams? To start with something uncontentious: the people who wrote the Yi had wisdom and intelligence (as well as mind-boggling genius), and were well-informed, and had good reasons for their choices. One of the things they appear to have been well-informed about is… Read more »Myth and legend in hexagrams
The ancient character for jie, the name of Hexagram 40, shows hands with a knife removing a cow’s horn. Perhaps this has to do with a horn implement for prising knots apart – Chinese boys could carry a knot-horn at their belt when they became men – or perhaps simply with… Read more »Hexagram 40, Release
Hexagram 44 is – famously – a tricky one. ‘Coupling, the woman is powerful. Do not take this woman.’ That’s all it says – which is more than enough to give rise to all kinds of ideas. The traditional one is that the woman represents something malevolent, the seductress, power-grabbing… Read more »More on hexagram 44
Lars Bo Christensen has brought out a very interesting new translation of the Zhouyi: Book of Changes – the original core of the I Ching. I should post a full review one of these days (short version: yes, definitely buy it), but for now I just wanted to share something that’s… Read more »Rethinking the Well
Well, here I am getting started teaching week 1 of the I Ching Foundations Class, so it’s hard to think of a better title for a blog post… Oh, I know quite a few things about Yi. I know some of its history and the stories behind its words, and how its… Read more »I don’t know the first thing about the Yi
