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"change to sunny weather"

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deflatormouse

Guest
Been reading SJ Marshall's 'Mandate of Heaven' and came across this gem early on:

"In the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions this character (the original form of 'Yi' depicted in the Clarity logo at the top of this page) refers to 'a yi sacrifice to the sun, the context suggesting a ritual intended to change overcast conditions and rainy weather, and bring the sun out again. In inscriptions the character precedes 'ri', 'sun', literally meaning 'change to sun' or 'change to sunny weather.' When I realized this, immediately I noticed that the original character appears to be a drawing of the sun just emerging on the right from cloud cover on the left, with three slanting rays of sunshine breaking through. Hence, this is the original image of 'change.'"

Back in December I asked Yi, 'Deep down, what is it that I really want?,' a question so simple that it had previously eluded me to ever ask. In divination, half the battle is uncovering the questions that we truly want answered. That day, I cast hexagram 12 changing to 18, which I interpret (with the help of Hilary and this forum) largely to mean that what I want is to clear away obstructions, revealing deeper wounds to repair so that I might change my patterns of influence and experience. Would that those rays of sunshine break through at long last.

In the years I've practiced this divination, I've conceived of the Yi as a means of obtaining direct insights into the very will of heaven. I've heard it described as a tool that teaches humankind to live in accordance with the forces shaping time and change and thus find comfort in uncertainty- and it's been all of that for me, unquestionably. But reading SJ Marshall's words it was suddenly clear that Yi's will has been to clear away the clouds of my heart and mind all along, to show the way to overthrow my own imbalances, align myself and my experience away from despair into joy, from darkness into light. Divorce from that which is corrupted, both internally and externally.

Perhaps what I want most is not that different from what Yi wants after all, or from what it, at its core essence, represents: Change to sunny weather.
 
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diamanda

Guest
Deflatormouse,

Yi has been showing me the way to transform myself and my experience from darkness to light, from sadness to happiness, from cloud cover to sunny weather. And this, I believe, may be the truest intention of the Yi.

This is a beautiful thought, however, it is also misleading, and could be dangerous on occasion.

The YiJing is a book, a system of divination.
Its intention is to help people divine.
It is us who have the intention to overcome difficult times.

The danger lies here:
Ancient people, and modern people alike, make the same 'wishful thinking' mistake.
They/We think that by offering sacrifices, and by divining, and who knows what else,
they/we can FORCE the sun to come out from behind the clouds.

That is simply not realistic.
Although it is true that YiJing can show us what's our benefit in the present situation, if any,
it cannot force the sun come out, when the sun/luck doesn't want to come out.

To cut a long story short:
Yes, I agree with you that the reason we are divining is because we want a better life.
And that YiJing can show us if there are any opportunities around to grab and invest on.
But I don't agree that the Yi is a magic wand to FORCE good things to happen to us.
That's simply impossible.
Not the YiJing, not positive thoughts, no prayer, no nothing can force the sun to come out.

And as a footnote... it's also useful to know it will rain for a while - then we can run for cover :)
 
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deflatormouse

Guest
Hi diamanda,
Perhaps you misunderstand, I am not suggesting that we can control the weather :)
I do believe, however, that if we're willing to put in the work, we can usually change our attitudes, perceptions and patterns of behavior. And in doing so change our experience.

I have had many deeply upsetting interactions with the Yi, but in order to change my experience the Yi must at times challenge these intentions, understandings or patterns of mine that are hurtful to me and others.
If it's going to rain, Yi will tell us to run for cover, but sometimes in life, this is not what we want to hear.

Am i making any sense?
 
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diamanda

Guest
Yes I know what you mean.
Making sure that our behaviours don't hurt others and ourselves is very important.

Perhaps I misunderstood you - I thought you were talking about the fallacious so-called law of attraction.
I believe that being informed of forthcoming rain is more helpful than 'not wanting to hear about it'.
 

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