I studied I Ching yeeeeears ago while I was simultaneously practicing Ba Gua--this was my impetus for checking it out. I learned it by doing it, you get a better acquaintance with the trigrams and hexagrams vs. just reading it cover to cover.
I used BBQ skewers in lieu of yarrow stalks--I went to Chinatown, asked if they had any yarrow stalks and the guy behind the counter was like, "You believe in that stuff?!?" The yarrow stalk method has a different probability distribution than coins and the slow pace is nice. I used the Wilhelm translation. I would light some incense, pass the skewers and book through the smoke and ask King Wen, Duke Dan and Confucius for guidance. Not sure if I did a reading every day but would do a few sessions a week.
Like tarot or anything else, you will get hexagrams that come up repeatedly. Get to know the trigrams, they form an extended family and each hexagram is an interaction between the two personalities. Again, regular readings will help you get to know them. The extra matter in the Wilhelm edition is worth reading as you get hungry for it. The commentary in there is attributed to Confucius, it's really four on the floor and pragmatic. And yet Confucius is also deeper than people usually give him credit for, I think he just gets a bad rap for being stodgy because he lived the Chinese maxim "Confucian at the office, Taoist at home."
There's a Cleary-translated Taoist I Ching focused on internal alchemy and other editions out there, the Wilhelm will give you a good foundation before dipping into that other stuff. There are different deep structures that people have come up with for the order of the hexagrams, there are different woo woo-ier takes on what they mean, there are systems where you see something happen in nature then do a reading on the spot based on the time and location (the 8 trigrams get mapped onto the joints of your three middle fingers so you like eenie meenie miney moe around the circle to get your hexagrams), etc. etc. etc. Just get a copy of Wilhelm, do regular readings and meet the trigrams on their own terms, if you stick with it you will pick up more and more as you go.
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branchandroot
Re: Writing, I-Ching
Date: 2022-11-21 06:26 pm (UTC)I used BBQ skewers in lieu of yarrow stalks--I went to Chinatown, asked if they had any yarrow stalks and the guy behind the counter was like, "You believe in that stuff?!?" The yarrow stalk method has a different probability distribution than coins and the slow pace is nice. I used the Wilhelm translation. I would light some incense, pass the skewers and book through the smoke and ask King Wen, Duke Dan and Confucius for guidance. Not sure if I did a reading every day but would do a few sessions a week.
Like tarot or anything else, you will get hexagrams that come up repeatedly. Get to know the trigrams, they form an extended family and each hexagram is an interaction between the two personalities. Again, regular readings will help you get to know them. The extra matter in the Wilhelm edition is worth reading as you get hungry for it. The commentary in there is attributed to Confucius, it's really four on the floor and pragmatic. And yet Confucius is also deeper than people usually give him credit for, I think he just gets a bad rap for being stodgy because he lived the Chinese maxim "Confucian at the office, Taoist at home."
There's a Cleary-translated Taoist I Ching focused on internal alchemy and other editions out there, the Wilhelm will give you a good foundation before dipping into that other stuff. There are different deep structures that people have come up with for the order of the hexagrams, there are different woo woo-ier takes on what they mean, there are systems where you see something happen in nature then do a reading on the spot based on the time and location (the 8 trigrams get mapped onto the joints of your three middle fingers so you like eenie meenie miney moe around the circle to get your hexagrams), etc. etc. etc. Just get a copy of Wilhelm, do regular readings and meet the trigrams on their own terms, if you stick with it you will pick up more and more as you go.