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close-up of tiger fur

Three tigers

Chinese tigers Tigers have been prowling through Chinese thought and folklore for many thousands of years. Their meaning is interesting: not just wildness and danger, though of course they might eat you, but also courage and protection against evil – from the wild boar that would eat your crops, and… Read more »Three tigers

Detail of the Hou Mu Wu Ding vessel handle showing human face in tigers' jaws

In the Jaws

Charlie asked ‘How to navigate?’ and cast Hexagram 27, Nourishment – or Jaws – changing at line 1 to 23, Stripping Away: changing to What followed was a strongly resonant conversation between his inner imagery and the imagery of the Yi – and also the ancient Chinese motif of being… Read more »In the Jaws

butterfly chrysalis hanging from a twig

Rejecting the standard

There are two lines in Hexagram 27, Nourishment, that refer to ‘rejecting the standard’: ‘Unbalanced nourishment.Rejecting the standard, looking to the hill-top for nourishment.Setting out to bring order – pitfall.’ Hexagram 27, line 2 ‘Rejecting the standard,Dwelling here with constancy: good fortune.Cannot cross the great river.’ Hexagram 27, line 5… Read more »Rejecting the standard

tabby cat watching

An unexpected reading

Episode 36 of the I Ching with Clarity podcast – a reading of my own, received in a way that might be new to you. I was asking for guidance in a new situation, and the response was Hexagram 27, Nourishing, changing to 54, the Marrying Maiden. (The completely positive… Read more »An unexpected reading

An outsider seeking nourishment

Here’s the 30th episode of the I Ching with Clarity podcast – a short one, this time, with a reading of my own. I asked for an auspice or advice for joining a new orchestra, and received Hexagram 38, Opposing, changing at lines 2 and 4 to 27, Nourishment: changing… Read more »An outsider seeking nourishment

Hexagrams as pictures

On not knowing the first thing about the Yi Back in 2015, I titled a post, ‘I don’t know the first thing about the Yi‘. By this I meant not knowing how it came to be – how people first knew that a certain pattern of lines belonged with certain… Read more »Hexagrams as pictures

no through road sign

No direction bears fruit

‘Not yet across, creating success.The small fox, almost across,Soaks its tail:No direction bears fruit.’ There are ten places where the Yi says that ‘no direction bears fruit’, or (in the Wilhelm/Baynes version) ‘nothing furthers’: 4.3, 19.3, 25.6, 27.3, 32.1, 34.6, 45.3, 54.0, 54.6, and finally 64.0. It’s easy to see… Read more »No direction bears fruit