I’ve written about the trigram li, fire and light, and the role it plays as inner trigram, inside the hexagram. Here’s a look at fire on the outside… In the ‘Trigram Associations’ pdf that’s part of the Yijing Foundations Course, I simply wrote that, The outer li illumines more expansively, with less concentrated focus… Read more »Fire outside: hexagrams 14 and 21
The next three hexagrams with trigram li outside are 30, Clarity (doubled li, inside and out), 35, Advancing (fire over the earth) and 38, Opposing (fire above the lake). Each one has a different kind of trigram interaction, but the outer light always seems to be expanding awareness: spreading the… Read more »More light outside: Hexagrams 30, 35 and 38
The trigram picture of Hexagram 50, the Vessel, is a dynamic one: wood in the fire, burning. The wood is becoming fire; the food in the vessel is cooking for the ritual meal. ‘The vessel.From the source, good fortune.Creating success.’ Hexagram 50, the Oracle This is an exceptionally fortunate beginning,… Read more »Fire above wood: Hexagram 50
There’s a well-established tradition that these trigrams portray fast-moving fire burning through mountain vegetation.Kong Yingda (574-648AD) wrote, ‘When fire is on top of the mountain, it races through the grass and shrubbery, a condition that does not leave it in one place for long. Thus this provides the image for… Read more »Fire on the mountain: Hexagram 56
Tradition tells us that Hexagram 63, Already Crossing, has its trigrams in the right places: water is above fire, like the pan on the stove; things are cooking; everything is in good working order. And then by contrast, Hexagram 64, Not Yet Crossing, with the same two trigrams in reverse… Read more »Fire on the river: Hexagram 64
