Some questions for Friends' Area contributors

[cguleff]

Since I'm still new here, I'd be interested in learning a little bit about some other contributors. Mainly things like how/when did you discover the I Ch'ing? Approach taken (analytical vs intuitive)? Favorite translation? What time zone or locale? (It seems that I'm probably further west than most of you and am not available during peak contribution periods>) I'll start out by giving my answers to these questions:

I first found a mass paper version of I Ch'ing (Legge) on a rack in a drugstore when I was in college. I was overwhelmed by the complexity of it and shelved it for a few years. In my late twenties I worked in an office with metaphysically oriented co-workers and was introduced to more approachable versions of the I Ching. I've been consulting it on and off for the past thirty years and am now exploring Karcher's "Total I Ching" -- I'm getting to really like it. I'm not really much into the analytical approach and tend to use it intuitively. I live in the western United States (Rocky Mountain time zone).

Thanx,
Chris

 

[candid]

Hi Chris,

Appreciate your sociability.

I was introduced to Wilhelm around 1970 by my best friend, and was seriously hooked and intrigued. After 10 years I gave it a rest and pursued other spiritual interests: Buddhist, Christian/Judeo, even Hindu/Krishna. Through the encouragement of my eldest son, who was given for adoption and became a close friend later in years, a Tibetan Buddhist devotee, I got back into the Yi. I found this community about 4 years ago, and have learned and grown from both the Yi and the good folks here since then. I moved to the Arizona desert 2 years ago. I guess I?m more of an intuitive reader, in that I rely more on spontaneous impressions than detailed analysis, though the impressions themselves are directly linked to the relationship of trigrams. Applying the symbolism to practical solutions is what I enjoy most about working with Yi.

Candid

 

[jeanystar]

Hello everyone and Jeff,
I only found this site a few months ago, and I was so amazed and happy to find people who shared my passion.
About 20 years ago, I was hired by a book store to be the buyer for books related to self-help and substance abuse recovery. The day I started, the metaphysical book-buyer literally keeled over and died. It was horrifying. The store owner asked me a little frantically if I would agree to take that section on as well. I said okay, although I was still rather a novice in metaphysics, in general... On the shelf, I found the wilhelm-baynes edition, way over my head, and I found it very frightening at first as well. BUt because it was my job to order metaphysical books, I perused catalogues and found all sorts of simpler versions. I ordered them for the store and began to use them myself. I have been using the Yi ever since and it has been a very large part of my life . I have so many translations, but no favorites. Sometimes the Ritsema/Karcher: I Ching -Classic Chinese Oracle of Changes - First Complete Trans with Concordance is the best if I want a really good in depth reading.
I live on Long Island and work as an elementary school counselor.

 

[bradford_h]

Hi Chris-
First discovered the Yi - 1967
Went Scowlerly - 1974
Favorite Version - Zhouyi Zhezhong, 1715, in Chinese
Other favorites - listed in bold face in my bibliography, website hermetica
I doubt there will ever be a single, definitive version - the Yi is about diversity
Time zone - Mountain, SW Colorado
Approach - analytical, linguistic, the Yi as humanity's first Psychology textbook, a catalog or toolbox of attitudes.

 

[soshin]

Hi everyone and Chris,

I discovered the Yi first in 1984, when I was working in a book store. The senior bookseller was a wonderful woman who invited me to explore the Yi. It was love at first sight (with the Yi, not the lady ).

My favorite versions are the Wilhelm and the Karcher versions, especially the Total I Ching.

As far as I can speak of an approach of my own, I would say very much Jungian/Psychologic and intuitive.

I was born and live in Austria, Europe, Middle European Time Zone.

 

[jte]

Hi, all & Chris -

I began using the Yi in high school, circa 1982. Had then and still have the Raymond Van Over (1971) edition of Legge's translation, which I'd recommend for those interested in Legge because it's organized like W/B and thus easier to use. Used it off and on through college and then had a long break because I felt I was "in over my head" in terms of what it was teaching me.

Meanwhile I moved to San Diego, got a Masters degree and started a teaching career, hit a dead end, got a 2nd Masters degree, and started a new career (corporate training).

During a quiet spot work-wise, I decided to pick up the Yi again and found that yes, it still indeed does "work" and indeed can do more than just answer questions.

Although I still have and love my old copy of RVO's Legge, I realized that it has shortcomings and so picked up W/B to complement it. I'm content with the two for now and usually consult both unless I "know the line" in a reading. I'll probably add a Karcher trans one day after I feel my knowledge of Legge + W/B has "gelled" sufficiently. (Frankly, hanging around this forum is kind of like having several high-quality additional translations.)

After "returning" to the Yi and re-discovering that it is indeed something quite special, I realized I'd be pretty lonely if I didn't find some kindred spirits. So I hit the Web and found Clarity. Been putting my foot in my mouth ever since. ;-)

Other data is on the profile...

- Jeff

 

[demitramn]

thanks LiSe. i'll search out the Sacred Path cards and the animal book by Ted Andrews while i'm at it

 

[parasio]

Sparhawk,

you hit the nail on the head: it's not easy being a born-again Mediterranean!!!

I never read/seen "Under the Tuscan Sun", but you can believe me, the "Latin Lover" is to become extinct.

Angelika

 

[Sparhawk]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1>Quote:</FONT>

but you can believe me, the "Latin Lover" is to become extinct.<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not if I can help it!! lol!

Luis

 

[cguleff]

I was raised in a Mediterranean family -- bilingual/bicultural -- in a rather conservative American city during the 1950's. I have never been comfortable with the majority culture around me, and have always gravitated to other "ethnics" or to others not living the "Anglo" lifestyle. Now that cultural diversity is in vogue (at least in some places) I find it easier to operate.

Chris

 

[oniro]

There is here, deep in the Finnish woods a latin lover, still a happy synthesis of caribean and mediterranean blend, a cocoon of the Rennaisance sprit, extinctless against all odds, alive and well seasoned!!!


Oniro

 

[yellowknife]

Finally remembered how I encountered the I Ching and am able to answer on this thread...

It was a section in an Encyclopedia of Fortune Telling that I requested as my prize book at a school prizegiving day when I was 16. (oddly..)

Must have been a condensed version of some sort. I then got a full version out of the library, not sure which one...and over the years, despite sporadic use, have got Alfred Douglas' I Ching, Henry Wei's and the I Ching of Love (surprisingly good!) by Guy Knight.

Just got the Karcher version and find it beautiful and poetic...and most appropriate for my intuitive readings. Actually I try to be intuitive but often find myself being overly "cook book" and logical, as with Tarot.

Discovering this site has made the Yi live most of all.

And I live in Northern England.

 

[candid]

Wolverine, there's so much to be said for a good cook book. The word "cook" is so appropriate for the I-Ching process, I think. We're given the important ingredients, and measure for each. Once they're mixed proportionately with intuition, it cooks in us. The creative process (intuition) needs lines to follow, no pun intended. It's a question of measure, and it's our measuring that provides our creative mind (intuition) with Yi's answers. Intuition, like creativity, has no focus without repeatable, reliable guidelines.
Music improvisation is a good example, as is comedy improv, or any art form.

 

[julie]

I had to revive this thread, even though it's been dormant for a long time. It's so neat to read people's experiences! I'm going to chime in with my story about finding the Yi.

Just over three years ago, I was going through a really horrible time in my life. I was seeing a therapist at the time, which was useful in the sense that it gave me hope, but not nearly as productive as I would have wished for, and I was getting more and more frustrated about it. I had recently separated from my husband, and I was stuck on this question about the meaning of that experience for me. I was talking to my therapist about that, wailing on and on, crying "How can I go on with my life when that makes no sense to me?" She mentioned the Yi, in this totally matter-of-fact way: "There's this oracle, you could ask it." My jaw about dropped onto the floor -- was she serious? Then she said that she liked to do castings in a yin light, or something like that, so we should wait until our next meeting to actually do it.

Well, I wasn't about to do that! I went home and got on the internet and did a web search on the I Ching. Hilary's site came up very quickly, and then she was doing quick readings for 11 bucks. I thought, what the heck?, and sent her a question.

When I got her answer back, I was absolutely floored. I remember sitting at the computer, crying and crying. In a nutshell, it said that everything with my husband was right, that rather than look for what I did wrong, that I needed to accept it as completely right, in its own painful way. So then I was hooked. Hilary played a huge role in teaching me about the Yi.

The funniest part of this, though, is that one of the things I asked about was my therapist. The Yi, quite definitively, told me to get rid of her! Ha ha ha! So I did.

I've been intermittent in my use of the Yi, sometimes a lot, sometimes not. It's been a major vehicle for personal growth for me overall. I'm tremendously grateful to have found it. Something good came from that therapist after all!