When qian, heaven, is the inner trigram, it might be realised through… Then what? The remaining two hexagrams with qian inside are 34, Great Vigour – heaven inside thunder – and 43, Deciding – heaven inside the lake. Creative force expressed through swift initiative? and through joyful interaction? Hexagram 34,… Read more »Heaven inside (part 3)
Heaven, as inner trigram, always seems to be asking, can this be realised? How, or how completely, or how directly? There’s an inner energy seeking expression or realisation through the outer trigram – perhaps it’s the potential in the situation asked about, or the true inner nature of the questioner,… Read more »Heaven inside (part 2)
What is qian? I always find this the hardest trigram to describe. Mountains are big and rocky and don’t move; plants grow and move in the wind. Water flows and reflects, fire illuminates and burns, thunder crashes, earth sustains. But what does heaven do? And what does it mean for… Read more »Heaven inside (part 1)
I almost titled this post ‘working with trigrams’ – but the most useful, productive ways I know of to engage with trigrams in readings actually feel a lot more like play. And besides, who needs more work? So here’s how I suggest you start playing. (This is really not a… Read more »Playing with trigrams
Following on from a previous post… Hexagram 20, Seeing Hexagram 20 has xun, wind and wood, over earth; its Oracle text suggests earth’s open, available quality: ‘Seeing. Washing hands, and not making the offering.There is truth and confidence like a presence.’ Earth will not act, but allows: the ritual provides… Read more »Earth inside (part 2)
Earth inside The easiest way to get to grips with the first two hexagrams, for me, is always to think how much they’re not each other. Qian, the creative force of heaven: nothing but solid lines, like the paths of sun, moon and stars across the sky. It moves without… Read more »Earth inside (part 1)
I’ve been working on a post on the trigram kun, earth, as inner trigram. That one will come soon – this is just something I wondered about along the way. I started going through the sequence of hexagrams, looking at the Image texts for the ones with earth inside… ‘Above… Read more »Ancient kings and their trigrams
