Here is a cautionary tale about involving Yi in decision making, how this can get you tied up in an endless series of unpromising readings, and the tremendously simple way to avoid this. Why is this a cautionary tale? Well, because I’ve managed to act out the full story twice… Read more »Yi and decisions: a cautionary tale
This oracle, as I keep saying, isn’t a slot machine. It’s not ‘insert question, get answer’. Someone who is completely familiar and comfortable with Yi does not therefore receive the answers to all their questions and live in a state of perfect certainty. What they are is deeply engaged in… Read more »Some ways Yi doesn’t answer your question
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
From time to time, someone asks me about the validity of consulting with a computer program. Does it work – are the answers real? I always say yes, it works. What matters is not the physical method, but the quality of your attention. I have plenty of experience to back… Read more »Consulting under the sky
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
