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Interpreting hexagrams

Comments on whole hexagrams, individual lines and so on

Earth as relating hexagram

If you consult the Yijing with yarrow stalks, or with another method (like beads) that has the same odds, then you’ll find that 2, the Receptive, often turns up as relating hexagram. This is because with yarrow odds, yang lines in the primary hexagram are more likely to change than… Read more »Earth as relating hexagram

Reducing the many

‘At the centre of the earth is a mountain. Integrity. The noble one thus reduces the many to increase the few, He weighs things up to balance out their distribution.’ According to Wilhelm, the noble one is involved in the redistribution of wealth, but it’s always seemed to me that… Read more »Reducing the many

Wild Geese

Just listen to this… “Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in… Read more »Wild Geese

Hexagram 53, line 3

‘The wild geese gradually advance to the high plateau. The husband marches out and does not return; The wife is pregnant, but does not nurture the child; Pitfall. Harvest in resisting outlaws.’ Some thoughts based on a single experience of this line. (In other words, not ‘What It Means’, but… Read more »Hexagram 53, line 3

Hexagram 3 and Lateral Growth

Here’s another ‘non-Yi’ post I came across that strikes me as helpful in understanding a hexagram. This one from Scott Young, about lateral growth. He differentiates between this and vertical, directed growth: ‘Opportunity is critical for lateral growth. With vertical growth, you are already aware of what you aim and… Read more »Hexagram 3 and Lateral Growth

Hexagram 43 and decision

Here is a good, blunt article that explains why You Cannot Have It All: because choice you make for something is by implication a choice against something else. I linked to this article because it’s a clear statement of something we need to be aware of whenever Hexagram 43 shows… Read more »Hexagram 43 and decision