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It's good to know that what's translated as 'fixing' is heng 恆, the name of Hexagram 32, so we can learn more about it from LiSe.We find 'fixing the augury' (or not) a few times in the Zhouyi (hexagram and line statements), for example:
Line 32.1: 'Firm fixing (nothing favorable)'Line 42.6: 'Stand firm. Do not perform a fixing rite.'
I've never seen a suggestion that this required major sacrifices, have you? Rutt:II. Performing a specific 'fixing' ritual, ceremony, or sacrifice to ensure - or help ensure - the omen (reading, augury) will happen.
I have heard this described by Stephen Karcher: that along with pig rituals, or river god rituals, etc. there were (are) also 'fixing' rituals, and perhaps accompanying offerings and/or sacrifices.
This reminds me of 'fixing' dye color to yarn or fabric, as a way to make it longer-lasting (and not have it fade or run). It also reminds me of what may have been 'fixing rites' for the ancients: a ruler would ask about victory in a particular battle (the augury, omen, divination), and they would also attempt to 'fix the augury' by sacrificing captives (or by performing other sacrifices and rituals), both before and after the battle that they asked the Yi or oracle bones about.
Hexagram 32, ... we can learn more about it from LiSe.
I've never seen a suggestion that this required major sacrifices, have you? .... It may have been as simple as burying an oracle bone or drawing a circle round a place."
"Gao takes heng to mean 'patience'," and ... Kunst doesn't believe in heng rituals either.
The boat (or the moon) goes to and fro, to and fro, between the two shores: a round trip, representing continuity.
I know it sounds kind of cool, but I never quite get what people mean when they talk about the Yi's 'shamasnic' roots?'Fixing the Augury' ... are all very much based in the shamanic roots of Yi.
The etymology of the word 'shaman' indicates 'a person who 'knows''. Oracle readings and divination were usually carried out by individuals who were able to interpret the meaning of the symbols or the oracle. They 'know' while others do not. My hunch is this type of person was the go-to guy for interpreting the oracle.I know it sounds kind of cool, but I never quite get what people mean when they talk about the Yi's 'shamasnic' roots?
We know it has roots as an oracle, and with divination and was tied to seeking responses from the ancestors, but that doesn't mean or imply it's related to shamanism, or shamanic practices? Of course, someone might assume that, or have a different understanding of what shamanism is.
The word 'shaman' indicates 'a person who 'knows''. Oracle readings and divination were usually carried out by individuals who were able to interpret the meaning of the symbols or the oracle.
Shamanism ... (is about someone) who can interact with a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance ....
the Oracle at Dephi, was reported to have been high (i.e. an altered state of awareness) on gaseous emissions from the rock surfaces around her abode
You are right! Altered states of conciousness are not always induced by people taking substances. Follow your curiosity.Tibet has a tradition of oracles, but I don't think it involves people taking substances to induce their trance states. And the Oracle of Delphi being high from emissions - that just sounds like it might be a modern stoner fairy tale to me. But it makes me curious (and suspect) who 'reported' this?
Many cultures have found ways to free themselves from Sun dominance to Moon or Mother Earth ways of being.I recently read something by Michael Kenna - an ethno-botanist (who took lots of magik 'srooms) and Yijing enthusiast - where he equates a supposedly ancient, matriarchal 13-month, 384-day lunar cycle / calendar with the 384 lines in the Yi - and he went on to describe how this calendar freed those matriarchal-lead societies from the more dominant, aggressive male sun cycle cultures ....
Really!? Is that what you get?It's what you get when you mix (and mix up) a few too many drug-induced shamanic trances with one's understanding of the Yi. For one thing, it leads to a completely fabricated history (including the history or 'roots' of the Yi), but one that does sound pretty cool!
All things are connected.But perhaps you're referring to something different than this.
We are on the same page here. However, maybe the work of our ancestors - Wilhelm, Legge, Cleary et al - has made the 'knowing' easier to access for us mere mortals, allowing a degree of successful divination to be achieved without trance. Back in the early days though those guys who 'knew' didn't have a corner bookstore handy so had to go find the author to get the lowdown.My definition (and understanding) of 'shamans' and 'shamanism' includes these trance-like states being a necessary part of shamanism. However, we don't need to induce a trance or other altered state to interpret or understand the Yi.
Many cultures have found ways to free themselves from Sun dominance to Moon or Mother Earth ways of being.
Really!? Is that what you get?
maybe the work of our ancestors - Wilhelm, Legge, Cleary et al - has made the 'knowing' easier to access for us mere mortals .... Back in the early days though those guys who 'knew' didn't have a corner bookstore handy so had to go find the author to get the lowdown.
Fixing the Omen', believe it or not, is also a key stage in many, if not all, shamanic practices
You're right to say that one character can mean more than one thing. However, here you're talking about two completely different, unrelated characters which happen to have the same pronunciation. Heng 元 as in yuan heng, li zhen is what Rutt is talking about on p206-7, the one that means 'offering made/received' and hence 'success'. There's a nice article from Harmen somewhere about heng and the closely-related-maybe-interchangeable xiang... will add a link if I can find it. Heng 恆 the name of Hexagram 32, the one we're translating 'fixing', is different.Richard Rutt provides examples of the process of vocabulary (word meanings, usage) change, for Heng and other terms (p206-7):
HENG: sacrifice > OFFERING (how he uses it) > make offering > get offering received > penetration > SUCCESS (its use/meaning since Han times).
These changes in meaning and changes over time make me think that Heng can be a lot of different things
* Heng as an offering
* Heng as a 'fixing ritual' - the subject of this thread - and as Karcher mentions, there are a 'range' of fixings (which I touch on, I, II, III ...)
* Heng as the name of hexagram 32 (trigrams Thunder above, Wind below)
* Heng as a character with many different meanings:
----- long term, fixed, perseverance, law, often, stretch, continuous, appearance of the moon, last quarter of the moon, weeks (LiSe);
----- duration, continuity, endurance, steadiness, constancy, consistency, ... (that which) endures, survives; (to be) regular, lasting, chronic, persistent, perennial, perpetual, prolonged; (to) last, go on, endure (changes) .... (Hatcher)
Yes. I also strongly associate 32 with forming new habits, making something part of the daily round, part of our habitual way of thought. 'We are what we repeatedly do' - see nuclear hexagram of 32...hese 'fixing' rituals and the way we follow through on the message must stem from the heart. So in this day and age we might meditate on a reading; write down our interpretation of the message conveyed; reflect over a few days and notice how the message changes or becomes clearer; do a drawing of what the message means; create some other meaningful image / symbol - a piece of craftwork, a sculpture etc; write a single meaningful word; create a detailed action plan; display your created image / symbol in a prominent place (fridge magnets are good aids for this) or place a new stone / object on your altar.
You're right to say that one character can mean more than one thing. However, here you're talking about two completely different, unrelated characters which happen to have the same pronunciation.
Yes. I also strongly associate 32 with forming new habits, making something part of the daily round, part of our habitual way of thought.
Yes, he's talking about the other character. Pinyin is fun this way: if I open Wenlin and just look up 'heng', it gives me a choice of 26 characters.I also thought that Rutt was talking about how this one character changed over time. But perhaps he was mixing the two 'Hengs' - or he was talking about the other character?
If there is something here I didn't understand or get right, this was an inadvertent oversight on my part, and would welcome knowing where I erred so I can try and correct it.
Yes, definitely. The modern dictionary says 'permanent, lasting', not 'fixing, as of an omen'. Schilling emphasises that to 'fix' something is to ward off from it any baleful influence, so for him it's a protective/banishing power.All that aside, do you think that this one 'Heng' we're looking at - and referring to - may carry some or all of the different meanings and uses I mentioned - and that these also may have changed over time?
Yes, definitely. The modern dictionary says 'permanent, lasting', not 'fixing, as of an omen'. Schilling emphasises that to 'fix' something is to ward off from it any baleful influence, so for him it's a protective/banishing power.
on p206: that 'the first English word in capitals is that used in my translation' - 'offering' - and 'the figure shows the number of occurrences in Zhouyi' - 47.
Schilling emphasises
Yes - though not very well. It's a good way to discover exactly how much German I've forgotten. No use to you if you don't know the language!Sorry for my aging, COVID memory, but are you reading Shilling in the German? I know a few people really like his translation, but since I don't read nor speak German, I don't know how much I'll get from him?
Indeed!!Yes. I also strongly associate 32 with forming new habits, making something part of the daily round, part of our habitual way of thought. 'We are what we repeatedly do' - see nuclear hexagram of 32...
... from Harmen, one of the earliest uses of the Yi was not to ask questions, but something more like an affirmation, a statement of the desired outcome and a request for the ancestors to support or affirm it.
I have mixed feelings about the whole concept of affirmations, at least how the word is usually used these days. All that prosperity consciousness and stuff brings me out in a rash.
.... I get the concept. I don't really use this idea when I consult the Yi, but I've thought about how it could be done, making a positive statement that expresses your desired outcome, then seeing how the Yi responds. It's certainly not a concept I'm deeply attached to ....
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).