A pretty horrible reading, but it was definitely accurate, as well as giving me advance insight into the situation. My cat has cancer and I was waiting on the CT scan results to see if they could operate and remote the tumour, which is the only way to save her. I did a reading and got 11.6. The results showed the tumour is inoperable. There's no point in aggressive action (i.e. surgery), because the situation is beyond repair.

My understanding of 19 is that you are feeling relaxed and comfortable about a situation and as a result your level of efforts goes down resulting in a delay or situation of no result.

That's a really great contribution

What happens when you don't connect your reading to your question.

A process "aha," not a hexagram or line "aha."

Moral of the story: remember your question when interpreting your answer.

What happened:
Earlier this month I bought a new memory card for my camera. I vaguely wondered at the time if it should be formatted, but I didn't immediately see instructions in the manual (I didn't look very hard), and when I put the card in the camera it seemed to work perfectly, so I thought there was no need to bother.

Today I second-guessed that decision (as I do). I found the instructions for formatting the card, and information on the internet that says it's probably not necessary, but it won't hurt, and might help, since it formats the memory card specifically for the particular camera.

I made sure all the images from the new memory card were backed up on my laptop, and then I formatted the card.

Then I wanted to transfer the images back onto the card. I thought I knew how to do this, but I was wrong. I had to spend a fair amount of time Googling, and then it turned out the camera software doesn't support shift-click selecting, so the images had to be transferred one. at. a. time. Urgh. Also, while the original date stamps were preserved, the original image numbers were not. So now there's a big gap in the continuous image numbering, and confusing duplicates on my hard drive, and I had to take more time to make notes about it.

The reading:
I have important things to do today, so when I started second-guessing about the formatting, I wanted to know how important it was. I didn't want to waste time, but I also don't want future problems with the camera. I asked Yi, "Guidance re: taking time now to format the memory card?" Yi answered with 23.3 > 52, Stripping Away > Stilling.

23.3
'Stripping away. No mistake.'

I could see this either way:

• "Stripping away" means "strip this idea out of your head." Don't do it. Stilling means stilling - let things as they are, don't become derailed from my plans.
• But formatting is also stripping away, and it says, "no mistake," and "stilling" might mean it will keep the memory card's file system "stable." So - yes, I should do it?

How to know which??

Well...in hindsight...what was my question? "Guidance re: taking time to...?" My question was NOT, "Guidance re: formatting the camera?"

So, reading the answer as an answer (as Hilary has possibly mentioned once or twice or a hundred times ), "The guidance about taking time to do this is "best to strip away that idea and the time it takes." The question was not about the camera, so neither was the answer.

(Also, the fan yao, 52.3, is this: "Stilling your waist, Dividing your back, Danger smothers the heart." That is a good description of how I "related" to it: I ended up fighting the process and myself every step of the way, and smothering the good intentions I had for the day.)

(Also, I wonder if Yi might have been purposely making a point. I have these kinds of problems with readings a lot, and maybe some of them could be solved like this...)

[Added] Aaand then when I tried to pick up the camera and connecting cable from the sofa to put them away, my thumb snagged in the wrist strap and the camera fell on the floor. more 52.3-ish danger, poisonous smoke, and clumsy awkwardness. (The camera seems to have survived the tumble.)

I know this is a super old thread, but so fun how it keeps going. I just wanted to share one of my more meaningful memories/experiences with the IChing.

Several years ago I asked a question about my mother who had recently passed away and received hexagram 28.

This is a funny one.. partly because now when I see hexagram 28 I don't necessarily get the same meaning. But at the time it had immense meaning for me, so much that I cried and felt deeply comforted.

My concern at the time had been the fact that my mother had recently passed, and I felt like I didn't "feel" her around. That is, most of my relatives, upon passing seemed to constantly chatter around me or make their presence known in some way. I didn't feel my mother at all. It felt as though she had just gone. I was worried, because there is a long history of religious extremism in my family and hence some odd ideas associated with my mother and her soul. It's a long complicated story, but she was a very sick women on multiple levels towards the end. And her behavior was deeply affected by these illnesses that made her appear in a way "evil" or something. Add my evangelical step-father to the mix, and my super christian upbringing and you get– me with a creepy nagging feeling that maybe her soul had gone somewhere awful or never existed to begin with

Anyway, I was crying and upset and thinking of her and talking to the IChing, and I asked "Where is she now?" and received hex 28.

I believe the very first interpretation I read was Lise's:
https://www.yijing.nl/i_ching/hex_17-32/hex_e_28.htm

"Across the Great Pass"

" Life is a cycle, it is circular. It begins, it grows, and it goes down again. To make life a straight road to a distant future is a desperate attempt of human mind to make it never-ending. It will not help him – inevitably he will go down some day.
But if man accepts going down as a substantial, important and good part of life, not as a decline but as a indispensable phase, then he makes his living days twice as many.
Do not live as an old man or an old woman, live as a grand old man, a grand old lady. Without regret or fear, but with the riches of wisdom and experience.
This applies to everything, to enterprises, feelings, popularity. In everything all phases are important."

This was so immensely meaningful and comforting to me at the time. My general take away was that she had crossed over the pass into another life or dimension and not to fret, because endings are just part of life and the grand scheme of things.

:bows:

A few months after my father died, a beautiful reading for a client about a deceased loved one inspired me to 'ask after' him and how he was. I received Hexagram 62 - Across the Small Pass. Dad was a quiet, unassuming man, and I got the immediate sense that this was how he described his experience - crossing over in a small way, small bird flying into great good fortune.

My first mini Aha with I-Ching: Lady Bug Question

Hello All, I am two-weeks old to this online community, so bear with me, I have many mini Ahas with I-Ching and I would like to share a "cute reading" about one of my totem animals, The Lady Bug. I have noticed that I see lady bugs when my desires are about to manifest, they are my totem animal for "fulfillment"; two days ago I started seeing them online again, it is a hint for me that something good is about to manifest in my life. So I asked Yi the question: "What is the lady bug about?" I got Hex 4 1.3.6. to Hex 11. I am still learning how to read "lines" (1.3.6), but my impression at the time was Yi said I don't have to know what is manifesting, yet. Two days later, I FELT Hexagram 11: I am applying to fashion school this summer, the application process is going smoothly and I FELT the support coming from every direction to help me transition into the fashion industry. Thanks everyone, I am a happy spring lady bug : - )

sudden or gradual enlightenment

Buddhists and meditation practitioners often discus if enlightenment happen sudden or gradual, or if you have to practice (mediation) or not. I asked the Oracle for his opinion about this topic and got 5.3.6 WAITING
It was a Aha! for me. The lines 3 and 6 are relevant for me personal. Maybe this is also interesting for people involved in meditation, who have asked the same question. :bows:

I have found that the changing lines can be represented as their own hexagram. In this case, Jiang, it is 56 Keeping Still, which is an image of meditation.

My "magical" lines

I can remember some readings I will always keep in my mind and since those readings I have given some specific means to those lines:

1. 3 years ago I broke up with my gf, I live 65 km far from her, she was in Genoa. 2 weeks later, more or less I asked:

"Will something happen with her in the next days?"

25 uc

The same afternoon or the day after I had to go to meet my business partner in Genoa and to go to him I had to pass just in front of my gf's home. But you know, the day is 24 hours long and the time I could spend passing in front of her home by car was about 5 seconds. By the way, I passed there and in those 5 seconds I've seen her with her new gf.
Since this reading (if I am not wrong some guys on this site had the same experience) 25 means for me THE surprise, something tougher than hex 51.


2. Some years earlier I was alone and isolated, very lonely life... university, gym and home, I asked:

"Will something happen in my romantic life in the next times?"

17.6

Well, in a short time I really crashed against the girl who became my gf for the following 5 years and the feeling I had with her, overall meeting her, was the one described by Siu and Wing in the notes about 17.6. I am not a sage but I was retired from the world, isolated and she needed some help in some things, university etc... and that meeting, in my opinion, fit perfectly the situation in which one is a loner and not too much involved in world and the other one needed him to accomplish his goals and since this situation a mutual cooperation starts.


3. More or less 4 months after the experience described in 1. I was separated from that girl and, without having contacts with her I have asked:

"How will the situation with her evolve?"

19 uc


Well, I was a bit surprised because nothing was giving me hopes about any improvement in the situation. I was more or less involved with another girl, younger than me, and she pushed me to put in my whatsapp status the date in which we met. I will go directly to the point, that stupid thing started a train of events which made me to go back with my ex GF in few days, starting from nothing.


4. I don't remember specifically the situation but:

22.3 was a redundant line with my ex GF to paint the situation, in many configurations of 22. By the way it always painted a situation of charming experience, heart shaped eyes and something like this but without a solid ground beneath it.


For sure I had many other experiences, I will update the post if I will remember.

Driving down the freeway yesterday behind a car with the number plate GUA372

37 line 2 or 37 changing to 2

Either telling me nothing else to do but enjoy a good meal, or, how after some goings on there is finally trust and a good outcome.

Both certainly fit the goings on of the last week, deciding to leave this new city that I'm wanting to make my home, also deciding to return to it in 3 months and meeting a bunch of kind souls who are helping me out to make that possible.

chingching said:

Driving down the freeway yesterday behind a car with the number plate GUA372

37 line 2 or 37 changing to 2

Either telling me nothing else to do but enjoy a good meal, or, how after some goings on there is finally trust and a good outcome.

Both certainly fit the goings on of the last week, deciding to leave this new city that I'm wanting to make my home, also deciding to return to it in 3 months and meeting a bunch of kind souls who are helping me out to make that possible.

Click to expand...

Lovely story. Life is full of clues.

Last week I got an "insufficient funds" message when trying to charge my electronic ticket using the bank card. It was weird as there must be much more money in my account. I tried with a few other devices and the result was the same, which worried me. So I decided to go to the bank and present the problem. When I was sitting in the bus moving toward the bank I asked the I Ching:

Where is my money? And received 7.2>2
7.2: "At the center of the army, good fortune, no error; the king gives orders thrice." [I used the Clarity's Free I Ching Reading, but can't find Hilary's text, so I cite from DeKorne website]. I took it as my money is safe & I can take it whenever I want, as I'm like a king at the center of my army.
Then asked:
What about [the problem being caused by] my bank card? And received 19 uc.
"In the eighth month there will be evil." Wow! I had gotten this new card EXACTLY 8 months ago, the same day of month! The card was the problem- however it worked quite properly before the eighth month arrived.

My visit to the bank proved both readings to be true. The problem solved the next day.

It is interesting how up to this day, my readings about money have been not just true, but very exact. Here is another example. I thought about it the day my problem solved: maybe that's because money matters are clear & tangible, contrary to emotional matters that almost always contain some degree of vagueness. That's why most of the time, we can't get a clear answer about them: the emotions are too fluid to be predictable in one's behavior tomorrow.

I have asked if I’m still fertile and got 44.5, the line talking about fertility

'Using willow to wrap melons.
Containing [cherishing] a thing of beauty,
It comes falling from its source in heaven.'

So I think the answer is yes. But I have no man at the moment. Maybe these children will fall from the sky?

The comment also speaks of a Queen meeting her King.. that would be nice

I hope I'm posting this in the right place, haven't posted in this area before. Yesterday I did a reading about how I should deal with/interact with my partner that day, because we'd had a big fight shortly beforehand.

The casting was hex. 26.1.5.6.

The first line made sense, and confirmed my already existing feeling that it might be best to just not talk more yet - the line says stop. Line 5 I was hopeful for, in disarming the conflict, and while I'm not sure whether or not that actually happened, it was really line 6 that made me want to share this.

I've seen line 6 in this hexagram interpreted before as a situation where something bigger happens that suddenly takes way more precedence, either materially or in your thinking. So I was trying to do my work and feeling glum about the partner conflict, and then I saw the breaking news about the assassination of the Iranian leader in Iraq. All of a sudden I was way more focused on that, with an instinctual feeling that this was going to have major world implications.

As the line description says in Hilary's book, "the currents of change flow faster, deeper, and more powerfully." I can't say my concern over where the partner conflict is going was taken away, but definitely my focus shifted to something that seemed a much bigger and more powerful issue. Anyway, just wanted to share because I was kind of struck by that being a reading for the day and then the correspondence with what happened. Maybe there will also be some more personal piece tied to line 6 that I haven't realized yet, but so far that already definitely felt like it fit.

I didnt ask anything and I got hexagram 27. I was eating literally

Hi,

I had a friend who has manipulated me and lied to me multiple times. She came across as a very good friend but in the end betrayed me in a sensitive situtation. As in she didn't support me, didn't ask how I was doing etc. I was really dissapointed in her, and mad at myself for allowing this. So after being mad for a while I cut contact with her. It was a few months ago.

Recently she is trying to talk to me again. Keeps complimenting me on social media or trying to start a conversation. I am definitely not buying her rubbish and ignoring her-- like just answering with an emoji. Of course this makes her try harder. So I thought maybe I am exaggerating the situation and I should be kinder to her.

So I asked IC "What is the best approach to take with her?" And the answer was 15.5 to 39.

It is about your neighbour not supporting you and any action (even force of arms) is a good measure to take! She has definitely not supported me where she promised to. And I think ignoring calls or texts are firm enough action take against a toxic person.

Well, I ching, thanks for reminding me to keep my guard up!

Hi Everyone
This is my first post as a newbie to this site.
When I was very new to the I Ching, I asked” How can my husband and I have a baby?” as we had been trying a long time with no results.
The answer? You guessed it- 44. Coupling
It made me laugh at the time
As it was, after many and various fertility treatments, my firstborn son was actually the result of good old fashioned coupling!

I like to ask IChing for its opinion. Hence the wording of my questions.

What do you think of me continue trying for a baby with J?
23.3>52 - Strip this idea away and keep still.

Why are you telling me to Strip away?
12.4>20 - The two people are incompatible. One of them in the relationship for a different reason then love.

Ok, so far so good, I feel like I can hear what oracle is saying to me.

So, now.
What should I do with this marriage then?
35.6>16 - Leave.

All right then.
What do I do to meet Mr. Right?
13.1 > 33 - Go out and date!

So now I’m thinking how would one date during pandemic.

I was fortunate to find help in interpretation of these reading in Shared Reading forums.

Love,
Vikk

I asked what I could do to become a better piano player and received 22.1>35.
Practice longer, your FEET LOCKED to the piano as if IN STOCKS - then you'll make Grand Progress!!!

two „aha” moments that really stand out in my memory have to do with 11.2.3.6 > 27 and 23.6 > 2

the first one was weird, was about a guy friend inviting me over. i didn’t think much about it, thought it was just a friendly offer, but before leaving home i asked Yi what to expect and out of nowhere, upon seeing 27 and thinking open mouth, for whatever reason, it dawned on me: „omg he’s gonna kiss me!”. it was more than just a nice dinner and afterwards yes, he did. a very sweet evening and the way he went about it was actually asking „may i kiss you”?

the 23.6 > 2 was personally quite a remarkable experience, as for the first time i felt supported rather than scared by hex 23. i was to spend new years eve with my mother and sister and none of us is particularly emotionally stable, especially when in this very configuration, as i often get dragged into „Karpman drama triangle” by them. i had a really bad night, as it was in an old house in a village, i got a room that normally stays unused and a mouse actually ran across my bed. brr. then when i woke up, though barely slept, my mother was in a really bad mood and for no reason at all took it out on me. in some synchronicity, to just focus on something else i reached for any book on the shelf, it was on ancestral psychology or something, but i happened to just open it on a page that had to do with chickens and pecking order and how the chickens lowest in hierarchy hurt just themselves rather than other chickens. i’m the youngest in the family and a notorious nail biter. but that one paragraph gave me some hope, by saying we’re smarter than chickens so i figured the only way to stand my ground was to spend new years on my own (i also couldn’t bring myself to spend another night in that room), it felt right, though i knew i’d disappoint my mom and royally piss of my sister. i asked Yi, not sure if, what to do, or what if i leave, but line 6 confirmed my decision was right. i then explained it to my mom and she understood, but on the way to obtain my wagon (train back to the city) received a multitude of insults from my sister. i let her let it all out and returned to them after new years, on my own terms, to still spend a day together in the mountains. it was a great day. since then my relationship with both of them improved tremendously, and my mom said she understands i want to be treated for who i am and not for who they see me as (ether as a kid who knows nothing about the world, even though i supported myself since age 18 while mostly living in a foreign country or as a rescuer in their prosecutor vs victim games). my sister never said it, but she actually dropped some of her usual drama (though apparently still managed to throw another of her specialty tantrums during new years, when her bf returned from work for the role of the rescuer) and all of a sudden is treating me more as an equal. for the first time we actually have a sisterly relationship i never thought we could. so they fully accepted my decision then and seems like finally accepted me for the human i am plus dropped previous misconceptions of who they thought or expected me to be.

Been a bit obsessive about using divination tools like the Yi/Tarot to find out how I should live and what I should expect etc. And let me tell you this past few days I’ve been just lying there thinking about these readings and not doing much in my day to day. Woke up feeling an Yi-tch again and asked what I should know and do for thee day. Got 4 -> 4 uc... NOT KNOWING!!

Yi is basically telling me to give up my obsession to know every little thing about life.


The first consultation speaks clearly.
The second and third pollute the waters

Elixir of the Gods..
Sometimes it's fun to ask the I Ching weird questions just to see what will come up. Last night, faced with the prospect of a boring evening ahead, my husband suddenly said, "Let's go out for a drink!" so we went to a bar where a band was playing and I had my first ever martini. It was fun and so when I came home I asked the IChing "What is the benefit of a little alcohol?" I got 11.5 - 5, When "The noble one eats, drinks and relaxes with music," "This brings fulfillment, good fortune from The Source."

When you ask about sex and you receive the answer:

28.4
28.6
>> 57

Just wow... Iching can be so literal....

I asked the Yi a question I've asked multiple times ("give me a picture of my next step in my career," "what can i do to make money?") never getting a satisfactory answer, lots of 50 unchanging.
I eventually got the feeling that maybe my motivations were what Yi was wary of. That I was asking out of anxiety due to comparing myself to my peers, feeling I am behind, wanting to escape my current situation.

Still, sometimes you can't shake the urge! Like a naughty child, this morning I told myself "oh just one more ask!" and cast for the question "may I have a hint at least of what to do for money?"

This was Yi's answer:

52. Keeping Still​

Line 6:​

Kindhearted restraint.
Good fortune.

Something is held back, but not out of ill will. There is a friendly attitude. Things go well.

Click to expand...

Nearly laughed aloud! Sometimes the Yi has such a parental quality. Mom are we there yet!! What's my Christmas present!!?"
"be patient, sweetheart"

well fine then!!!

nothing5 said:

Been a bit obsessive about using divination tools like the Yi/Tarot to find out how I should live and what I should expect etc. And let me tell you this past few days I’ve been just lying there thinking about these readings and not doing much in my day to day. Woke up feeling an Yi-tch again and asked what I should know and do for thee day. Got 4 -> 4 uc... NOT KNOWING!!

Yi is basically telling me to give up my obsession to know every little thing about life.


The first consultation speaks clearly.
The second and third pollute the waters

Click to expand...

This has happened to me so many times! 4 uc is always a sign to chill out. Like okay, okay, fine I'll put down the coins!

A few days ago, I asked for a reading for the day as we were setting out for a day's travelling, and got 55.4:

'Feng is screened off
At midday, seeing the Dipper.
Meeting your hidden lord,
Good fortune.'

Various screenings and hidden lord meetings happened... but this post is because, at about 10 to 12, we passed a huge warehouse alongside the motorway, with this sign:

I had recently moved and was driving carefully down the steep driveway, looking in the side mirror to avoid running into the brick wall of the house. Suddenly I hit resistance and see my partner's car which has unexpectedly driven up behind me.
"Didn't you hear me tooting my horn? Weren't you looking?"
Er, no on both counts.
Not much damage done, just a slight ding on his number plate and on my back bumper.

I asked Yi what the lesson was and got 21.1.2>64

Now, in the months since this happened, I remind myself every time I back out of the garage:
'NOT YET ACROSS' and make sure I check in the rear vision mirror before releasing the handbrake.

I had to laugh at the lines:
1. 'Shoes locked in the stocks, feet disappear - not a mistake'
2. ' Biting into meat so your nose disappears - not a mistake'
- Feet and nose in the wrong place, and a lesson to learn.

The Fan Yao for these lines were even funnier:
64.1 'Soaking your tail. Shame.'
64.2 'Your wheels dragged back. Constancy, good fortune'.

Weeks ago, I asked about a work-related situation that had to do with signing a contract and accepting/refusing certain T&Cs.
I recall 3 castings (all variations of the same theme) that were really plain and simple.

51.1 Shock comes -- Oh, Oh! Then follow laughing words -- Ha, Ha! Good fortune.
I received an offer that had a shocking clause and start date, I almost fell from my chair. OH! There was a lot of wind and thunder that week, it was eclipse season (that electric feeling in the air). This line indicated that despite all this and a huge initial fright, things could turn out OK, Ha! or even Aha! –– if one is stirred into proper action.

62.5 Dense clouds, no rain from the Western territory. The prince shoots him who (or whatever) is in the cave. For me, this literally meant dense clouds (heavy concerns, foggy contexts) but no rain (no decision is made - yet!). Importantly, this line indicates that the shooting-querent still rides on the ruling line and has the power to decide and shape the outcome of the situation (at the time of the casting though not for much longer). Shooting the arrow here is the equivalent, in modern terms, of "a shot in the dark" by means of sending an email (hitting that "reply" arrow icon asap) with "action required" on the subject line.

16.5 divination: affliction. Persevering, not dying.
Such a strange and circumspect line. It scared me when I received it. This can be the Yi going proverbial: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stick to the challenge!" and, in my case, "complain as much as you want, young lady, but this (this challenge and your complaining) is what keeps you going". The terms 'affliction and not dying' are a diagnosis of an ongoing malaise and, somehow, a prognostication of suffering in the future if the person stays in an impasse, divining (too much).