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"The Traveler's Journey", another way of viewing the hexagrams

mryou1

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Here's a fun way of viewing the I Ching hexagrams, one I've been using for several days now with some success. What I did was take from Shuo Kua (Discussion of the Trigrams), part 11. Additional Symbols. And I picked out one symbol for each that fit the theme of a "quest" or "journey". Here they are:

Heaven - The Horse
Earth - The Wagon
Thunder - The Great Road
Water - The Ditch
Mountain - The Bypath
Wind/Wood - The Guideline
Fire - The Weapon
Lake - The Concubine

If you wanted to put a Western American take on this (I'm a fan of Westerns) you could slightly modify these:

Heaven - The Horse
Earth - The Covered Wagon
Thunder - The Train Tracks
Water - The Valley
Mountain - The Dusty Trail
Wind/Wood - The Map
Fire - The Revolver
Lake - The Prostitute (or, if such a thing makes you uncomfortable, The Bag of Money would do)

Basically, you can then view your reading as a quest, from one destination to the other. And this shows you what happens on the way. The symbols can be split into sections (ones traditional):

Horse and Wagon - Essential Vehicles

Great Road, Ditch, and Bypath - Aspects of the Journey

Guideline, Weapon, and Concubine - Carry-Alongs

---

And here's some quick thoughts on each:

Horse: The Creative: strong and fast, makes your journey so much easier, yet it must be tamed
.
Wagon: The Receptive: can carry items from one place to the other, thus increasing the profit when you get to the destination, but makes the journey more difficult if you don't have a horse to pull
.
Great Road: The Arousing: a paved path, one oft-traveled
.
Ditch: The Abysmal: an obstacle in your way. there might be a bridge across... or you might get stuck at the bottom
.
Bypath: Keeping Still: a non-paved road, one that may be longer or shorter, or lead to a dead-end. It's chancy, but it may pay off
.
Guideline: The Gentle: a list of directions that will help you get to where you need to be
.
Weapon: The Clinging: will keep you protected, will help you get food, will ward off theives, however, it requires training
.
Concubine: The Joyous: if you can bring her along with you on your journey, it will pay off. However, she could distract you from the path

---

I'll do a few sample readings to show you how to apply this (always add yourself or the subject to the situation, because that is the Traveler):

11.3 > 19

The Horse is below the Wagon. They are together and this is good, and because the horse leads, it means they are travelling downhill. An easy, peaceful path. However, it comes to the wagon rising above the concubine. You can bring her along, as is indicated by the wagon and the concubine showing up together, or she can tempt you from the path. Or you can simply move on, on the easy path, and leave her behind.

60.1.2.5 > 2

Here we have the concubine at the bottom of a ditch. Since it is difficult to reach her, we must pass on no matter what (much like the name, Limitation). After this, we come to a collection of Wagons... perhaps a town or camp. There is a lot offered here, but we won't know for sure, so we can either pass through, or adapt and discover. Or you could utilize the people here to double back and rescue the concubine. Lots of choices.

15.6 > 52

the wagon is on the bypath. Since there appears to be no horse, this is a difficult pull, through uncertain surroundings. It pays to be Modest and bide your time. Eventually though, you will reach a crossroads, bypaths among bypaths. you have a choice, and none are certain. you can rest while you decide what to do (Keeping Still) or simply choose randomly.

38.1.2.4.5 > 20

(I'll use my Old West translation for this one)

there's the revolver held above the bag of money. You face Opposition, with your prize, and must defend it to the death. as you move forward, pulling your wagon, you must stop: map above the wagon, and pay attention to the path. This is a situation in which you have all the "Carry-Alongs" with you in your wagon, so its important to find a balance between them, and use each at their appropriate time.

---

Just something I've come up with recently, that you might try out sometime.
 

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